3 Sep 2013

Wood pellet factory fire contained

11:02 pm on 3 September 2013

Fire crews have contained a large fire that began after an explosion in sawdust at a factory near Taupo.

Fire Service spokesperson Jaron Phillips says local crews went to the Nature's Flame factory, which makes wood fuel pellets, in Rotokawa after an alarm was triggered on Tuesday night.

Mr Phillips says as some of them arrived, a large explosion set fire to two hoppers full of sawdust inside the factory.

At the fire's peak, a dozen fire crews from as far away as Rotorua and Turangi were at the scene.

Mr Phillips says no-one was in the building and there are no reports of injuries.

Nature's Flame's is owned by the state-owned enterprise Solid Energy but has been operating as a stand-alone company since last year.

Solid Energy said in May it was trying to sell the business.