Firefighters attack the blaze with fire hoses. Photo courtesy of the Mid Murray Rural Fire Service.
Large plumes of acrid smoke filled the air on Monday morning after a fire started at the Deniliquin Rice Mill.
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Described as an electrical fire by the Mid Murray Rural Fire Service, it is believed to have started in a conveyer belt motor in one of the sheds.
RFS district co-ordinator Gerard James said the smoke was a result of the rubber belt burning.
Despite the smoke output, SunRice Group CEO Paul Serra said the blaze only caused minor damage.
“There was a fire at our Australian Grain Storage site at Deniliquin this morning at approximately 8.05am, which resulted in minor damage to a small area of the site,” he said in a statement yesterday.
“All employees were immediately evacuated and there was no-one injured in the incident.
“The cause of the incident is under investigation and as such we cannot provide further details at this time.
“Thankfully, staff have now been able to return to the site.
“We want to thank the local firefighters for their efforts, and we appreciate their fast response to the site.”
Staff were able to return to work just after noon, with firefighters stood down about 90 minutes earlier.
“We had a Deniliquin Category 1 tanker and two bulk water tankers on site, and Tuppal arrived later to provide more water,” Mr James said.
Dark clouds of smoke rose above the rice mill, but were dissipating by 8.30am.
“Deniliquin’s New South Wales Fire + Rescue was also fighting the fire, and ambulance paramedics and police were also on scene.
“Our crews had stood down by 10.30am.
“A fair length of rubber conveyor belt was damaged as well as the electric motor.”
Mr James said further assessments were continuing in the afternoon to check if there was any damage to surrounding components.
Murray River Police District Chief Inspector Michael Fuller said about 100 workers had to be evacuated from the mill site during the incident.
Police put road closures and traffic diversions in place, with Edward River Council providing assistance as the incident continued.
“A number of heavy vehicles who were scheduled to attend the site were parked up near the saleyards, which resulted in no traffic issues in the local area,” Chief Insp Fuller said.
“No persons were injured during the incident, and it appears no significant property or machinery was damaged beyond repairs to or replacement of the conveyer belt.
“The site was handed back to site managers about 11am.”
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