(From left) CFA firefighters Garth Matthews (no longer a member), Chris Dent and Peter Dent, with Stanhope Fonterra site manager Steve Taylor.
Photo by
Geoff Adams
Chris Dent was rudely awoken from sleep on a warm December night seven years ago.
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His CFA pager had gone off and as soon as he emerged from his house a short distance from the rural community of Stanhope he could see a glow in the sky that told him this was a big fire.
When Chris arrived in town he saw smoke billowing from the cheesemaking building in the Fonterra factory, and he joined his father Peter Dent, then the Stanhope CFA captain, who was directing fire suppression efforts.
He knew the factory and many people who worked in the building.
On December 16, 2014, the Stanhope Fire Brigade were first on the scene, and all the available Stanhope CFA volunteers turned out.
Soon Peter Dent realised it was going to require more help, so he called in surrounding brigades, more breathing apparatus units and the elevated ladder unit from Bendigo.
The fire appeared to have taken hold in the the cheesemaking building, a labyrinth of rooms and structures, sandwiched between other buildings vital to milk processing on the site.
The firefighters were faced with a fire creeping into the old roof in a factory environment that included chemicals like ammonia and containers with liquid nitrogen.
The battle lasted for several hours before it was fully contained and the Fonterra management, while shocked at the multi-million-dollar damage, were fulsome in their praise for the firefighters who prevented the blaze from spreading.
Stanhope Fonterra site manager Steve Taylor said it was remarkable that although cheese production was not possible in the burnt-out building, the company was able to continue whey production the next day.
Milk continued to flow from the Goulburn Valley dairy farms to the facility and permanent staff were able to keep their jobs at the site.
The fire has cemented the relationship between the factory people and the town.
Fonterra continues to make donations to the brigade and arranges familiarisation walk-throughs for the fire brigade so anyone called to an incident will understand the site layout.
Through Fonterra’s support, the Stanhope CFA has been able to secure new firefighting gear like advanced nozzles and new search and rescue equipment including torches and Halligan tools that help Stanhope’s firefighters save lives.
Fonterra site manager Steve Taylor (left) and current Stanhope CFA captain Chris Dent with the remains of a switchboard, which fire investigators believed started the Stanhope factory fire seven years ago.
Photo by
Geoff Adams
Fonterra manager Steve Taylor and former Stanhope CFA captain Peter Dent discuss the Stanhope site.
Photo by
Geoff Adams
The fire destroyed the cheesemaking area of the Stanhope factory.
Photo by
Geoff Adams
The collapsed roof of the former cheese room.
Photo by
Geoff Adams
The night of the fire that destroyed the cheese room at Stanhope.
Peter Dent and members of the CFA’s Stanhope brigade were instrumental in halting the progress of the fire that tore through the Fonterra cheesemaking building.
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