A POTENTIALLY devastating fire at Casella Wines on Friday night was kept under control thanks to quick-thinking staff.
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About 11.30pm, Fire and Rescue NSW crews were called to the Yenda site after an explosion inside the main electrical distribution building sparked a fire.
The highly-charged building supplies electricity from transformers to the rest of the site.
Staff quickly activated emergency procedures, evacuated the 50 workers on site and began fighting the fire.
Their actions have been praised by Fire and Rescue NSW duty commander for the Riverina, Kernin Lambert.
Inspector Lambert said the three crews from Yenda and Griffith arrived to find the building full of smoke and required breathing apparatus and specialised equipment – including a thermal imaging camera – to locate the fire.
Despite equipment being incinerated in temperatures soaring above 1000 degrees, after an hour, fire fighters were able to hand the site back to Casella staff.
“To arrive on scene and have everyone evacuated and accounted for has made it easy for us,” Inspector Lambert said.
“They obviously have a very good safety culture and we were really impressed – everything they did was spot on.”