Massive fire hits North Findus food factory

Jan 7 2009 by Sam Wood, The Journal

A HUGE blaze caused production to stop at a North East frozen food factory yesterday. Bosses at Findus foods, in Balliol Business Park, Longbenton, North Tyneside, said it was not yet clear how long the disruption would last.

Six fire engines and 34 firefighters were required to bring the fire in the main food production area of the factory under control.

The building was evacuated and there were no reports of any injuries last night. The cause of the fire is to be investigated.

Tyne and Wear Fire Service were alerted to the fire just after 1pm and were still fighting the flames three hours later. Roads around the site were closed as smoke billowed from the building.

Keith Hall, crew manager at Gosforth fire station, and one of the first on the scene, said: “It was a substantial fire and much of the area has been badly damaged.

“All 50 workers had been evacuated from the building after being alerted by fire alarms.

“The damage was pretty severe and the smoke damage reached other parts of the building outside the main production area.”

Group manager at Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service, Dave Brown, said: “This was a substantial fire which has occurred in the plant room of the factory. The crews did an excellent job tackling what was a difficult fire. We do not know at this stage what has caused the fire.”

Vidar Engen, managing director at the factory, said: “Luckily enough we got all the employees out and there were no casualties. The damage was quite severe. I’ve been in myself and it’s still too early to say exactly what the damage is and when we will be up and running again. My focus is that the employees are OK.

“It’s very early days. We have several production halls but the smoke damage has potentially done enough damage that they could be out of use. We have to wait until tomorrow to do a proper assessment and we will know a lot more.”