By CAROLINE STRAINIG
THE cause of a major fire which destroyed a kitchen-manufacturing business in the industrial area of Port Macquarie on the weekend is still unknown.
Fire Rescue NSW Station Commander Geoff Peacock said he saw no obvious cause while fighting the fire and experts from the fire service and police scientific squad were investigating.
“At this stage, I haven’t heard back from them, so we still don’t know how it started,” he said yesterday morning.
Mr Peacock said the fire – which completely destroyed the Designer Living Kitchens large showroom and workshop in Acacia Avenue – was one of the largest Port had seen for a long time.
“I am just thankful we managed to save the buildings both sides,” Mr Peacock said, praising the 40 or so fireys who fought the blaze.
“The co-ordination was great and everyone involved should be congratulated on doing a great job.”
Mr Peacock said the alarm was first raised at 3.30am on Saturday morning by a nearby resident.
“When we arrived six minutes later, the building was engulfed, with flames leaping 10 to 15 metres in the air,” he said.
Given the size of the blaze, he immediately called for back-up from all local fire services.
In the interim the two crews from the Port Macquarie station concentrated on saving the buildings on both sides, with the kitchen premises themselves already engulfed in flames and beyond saving.
At the height of the fire eight hoses were in use, manned by two crews from Port Macquarie and Wauchope, which sent two trucks, Laurieton (one) and Rural Fire Service stations in Wauchope and Sancrox (four).
A crew from Essential Energy also attended to isolate the power.
By 8am the combined efforts of all the fireys had the blaze under control, although a stack of timber in the back corner of the kitchen premises continued to burn until late in the day because of the impossibility of accessing the building.
Mr Peacock said the premises on the left which were occupied by a glass business sustained some damage to the side through radiant heat and a car and trailer parked outside the cafe on the right sustained some heat damage.
“But it could easily have been much, much worse,” he said.
The destroyed premises were leased, and Mr Peacock said he understood the owners of the kitchen business planned to continue in other premises. The 40 workers have also apparently been told their jobs are secure.
On Monday a crew from a Port Macquarie demolition company attended to make the building secure and on Tuesday a representative from Coffs Harbour Demolitions visited to quote on the demolition. This is the only company on the Mid North Coast which is licensed to handle burnt asbestos and the representative confirmed to the Independent that there was “a small amount of asbestos” in the destroyed building.
