Fire brings doubt for Taupo workers

Staff at a Taupo fibreboard plant face an uncertain future after fire badly damaged 75 per cent of the plant's factory.
Fletcher Building's Laminex Group medium density fibreboard factory in Centennial Dr caught fire just after 7pm on Monday.
Fire crews are trying to figure out how the blaze started, while Laminex managers spent yesterday figuring out what to do with the burnt-out factory.
The plant was likely to be out of action for "some months" but the company had insurance cover for business interruption and property damage, David Worley, of Fletcher Building's laminates and panels division, said.
Laminex employs 108 staff at the Taupo site, which was first established in 1968.
Mr Worley would not comment on whether job losses were likely, saying the company was working with unions.
He said managers were meeting to assess the damages and get advice on the best outcome for the factory.
Mr Worley said the fire damage was less than $50 million which had been quoted.
"We have to assess the damage. Find out just how seriously things are damaged, including how long it is going to take," he said.
"Obviously we are concerned for the staff, the same as the staff are, because none of this does anybody any good."
What the outcome would be was not clear, including whether staff would be paid in the interim.
"We have got to work through all these issues with the staff and the union."
Mr Worley expected it to be at least the end of the month before a decision was reached and said every option would be explored.
It is not known how the fire started but the Fire Service was alerted to the blaze after a private fire alarm went off in the factory.
More than 50 firefighters from Taupo, Rotorua, Hamilton and Kinloch fought the oil-fuelled fire, using foam to douse the flames.
By 9pm three levels of the building were ablaze and it took until 1am to get the fire under control.
The factory houses presser machines which make medium density fibreboard.
The particle board plant which operates from the same premises was unaffected by the fire.
Eighteen people were on site when the fire started but only six were in the factory where the blaze occurred.
No one was injured.
Chief fire officer Wayne Bedford said the factory was extensively damaged.
"I'd say around 75 per cent of the building has been damaged," he said.
A crane was brought in to remove four giant chimneys from the building, as firefighters were worried they would collapse on the factory.
Mr Bedford said he was unsure how long the investigation into the cause of the fire would take.
Additional reporting NZPA