Feed Mill Fire: 500C Blaze Engulfs Cardiff Facility, Dozens of Firefighters Respond

Dozens of firefighters have been battling an intense fire at a feed mill in Cardiff, near Newcastle in New South Wales. Crews were called to the blaze on Nelson Rd just after 10am, with up to 50 firefighters working alongside engineers to extinguish the fire.

The fire started in a dust control vent and spread to the exhaust ducts. According to Fire and Rescue NSW's zone commander for the Lower Hunter, James Manuao, the temperature inside the feed mill has reached extreme levels.

Firefighters working to contain blaze

Mr Manuao said crews responded to an automatic fire alarm just after 10am, and upon arrival, they found four people on site who were quickly moved to safety. "We located a small fire at the top of the dust extraction system," he said. "Due to good work from our firies, they've managed to get onto that fast, they've attacked that and doused that fire."

Mr Manuao said there are 40 to 50 firefighters working on the feed mill fire in Cardiff. He explained that they were concerned about the heat spreading through the ducting system to where the grain grinder was located. "We're methodically going through the plumbing and the piping system to attack that fire, aiming to get down through to the bottom, where the grinder is, and see where it is," he said.

The temperature near the grinder, which crews had not reached yet, was approximately 500C. Mr Manuao said, "We're monitoring that temperature, it isn't increasing anymore." He added that the original fire reached temperatures above 200 degrees Celsius.

Fire containment and environmental concerns

Mr Manuao emphasized that the fire is still a concern, with crews working to ensure it doesn't spread. "We are concerned there is fire still propagating down the bottom. We are slowly working our way through this, we are maintaining our safety, we've got exclusion zones in place, we will have this under control in a few hours," he said.

The incident commander confirmed that all stormwater drains in the area had been shut off to prevent environmental contamination. The Environmental Protection Authority is being kept informed of the situation. Mr Manuao stated that, at this stage, firefighters believe the blaze has not spread to other silos on the site.

Community impact

Local resident Penny Hargrave, who lives above the Cardiff industrial estate, reported seeing smoke from her son, who was outside when the fire started. "It was a shock to see all the big white plumes smoke coming out there," she said. Although the smoke has died down, Ms Hargrave noted that it still appears occasionally.

"It's definitely calmed down now to what it was," she said. "We're lucky we're out of the wind direction."