The treatment shed at Eastown Timber contained tanks of chemicals. Photo / Lewis Gardner
The treatment shed at Eastown Timber contained tanks of chemicals. Photo / Lewis Gardner
The firefighters who managed to stop the fire at Eastown Timber also managed to prevent a tank of treatment chemicals from burning, a senior station officer says.
Craig Gardiner was at the site from 3pm to 8pm on Friday and said a fire of that size would have had sixto eight fire trucks arrive in Auckland.
"I walked around with the [Eastown Timber & Fencing] manager later in the day, and we were pretty amazed at how well they had done," Senior Station Officer Gardiner said.
"We had two trucks and limited numbers to save the surrounding buildings. It was very good, quick work. The crews would have been pretty hard out."
Owen Parker saw a glow in the sky on March 4. "When I went outdoors I could see the flames and hear metal crashing, things exploding, dogs barking and people shouting," he said. Photo / Owen Parker
The alarm was raised at 6.22am, and by the height of the fire there were seven appliances working, including some from Palmerston North and New Plymouth.
In the end the business lost its treatment plant, paint line and planer, but nearby buildings were saved.
One focus was keeping a tank of concentrated timber treatment chemicals intact.
"Our major concern was to make sure we didn't damage that," Gardiner said.
The tank remained undamaged but dilute concentrations of the chemicals and treated wood did burn, he said.
Residents were advised to stay on their properties and keep their windows closed in case the smoke was toxic.
Gardiner was also concerned about dilute chemicals washing off the site and into the Whanganui River.
But he said staff from Horizons Regional Council were quickly there and water services provider Veolia pumped potentially contaminated water off to the Whanganui Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Whanganui District Council could still decide to wash down footpaths and roads as an extra precaution, Gardiner said.
Excavators were quickly on hand, to break up packets of burning timber.
"We find the local contractors are pretty good. They had excavators there within an hour to lift the packets of timber and open them up and put water in."
There was a problem with water supply from the main on Rangitīkei St, Gardiner said. It needed three hose lines rather than one to get enough water running.
The fire will be investigated by Whanganui Rangitīkei Ruapehu fire safety officer John Hotter.
Eastown's insurer has made a preliminary inspection and will be back this week.
On March 4 it was unclear whether the fire was suspicious, but there was evidence to suggest it was burning for a while before crews arrived, Gardiner said.
Fire crews were called back at 10.50pm that night, because a security guard believed he had seen smoke - but there was no fire.
One end of the red shed that held Supa Shavings was damaged in the fire, and sawdust smouldered. Photo / Lewis Gardner
Gardiner said they were called again at 8.35am on March 5, to the next-door building owned by the Supa Shavings business.
One end of it was damaged in the fire, and sawdust was smouldering.
The crew spent several hours pulling sawdust out and damping it down, Gardiner said.
Whanganui's Fire and Emergency NZ staff spent much of the weekend checking and drying hoses, cleaning trucks and making sure their equipment was intact.
