Blaze at milk factory



A MILK factory fire east of Melbourne has caused about $3 million damage.


The overnight blaze is believed to have been caused by a dust explosion inside a milk drying chamber at the Longwarry Food Park in Longwarry, Gippsland, about an hour east of Melbourne.

Firefighters were called to the factory, which produces wet and dried milk products, just after 1am (AEDT) today.

They managed to contain the blaze to one room.

“The fire is the result of a large dust explosion within the milk drying chamber that has extended into the collection and transfer ducting and surrounding equipment,” CFA operations officer Ian Pattie said.

“The quick action of firefighters prevented the spread of the fire in to the packaging and storage area adjacent to the drying plant.”

While an estimated $3 million damage was caused to the milk drying chamber and surrounding equipment, little structural damage was done to the building.

The factory is expected to be able to continue its wet milk operations, but the dried milk operations could be shut down for weeks.

Mr Pattie says dust explosions could be triggered inside milk drying chambers by a combination of extreme heat, wet milk building up and volumes of dried milk powder moving through.

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