Fire hits Addo Food Group’s Dorset Foods factory
Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service were alerted to the blaze at 11:16am. Six fire crews from Shaftesbury, Gillingham, Tisbury, Warminster, Sturminster Newton, Sherborne and Yeovil attended the incident.
A spokesman for the fire and rescue service said: “Firefighters found a well-developed fire in the boiler room of a commercial building.
“Due to the high temperatures, crews worked with site personnel to cool down and make safe. The building was evacuated but there’s no detail of how many people – no casualties.”
Zero casualties
A spokesman for Addo confirmed that there had been no injuries as a result of the fire and the subsequent evacuation of the factory and that production had already largely resumed.
“Senior fire chiefs gave the all clear for staff to return to work within the site afterwards and were satisfied that it was safe to do so,” the spokesman added.
Members of Dorset Police were also in attendance from 11:36am to assist with closing the road near the factory, which was reopened at around 2:45pm.
Smoke and heat from the incident had significantly reduced by 1:40pm and all fire crews had left the scene by 2:50pm.
UK operations
Addo’s Shaftesbury factory is one of five manufacturing sites it operates across the UK. Operating under the Dorset Foods name, the frying facility produces pork pies, quiches, savoury pies, sausage rolls, pasties and scotch eggs for major retailers and brands like Wall’s Pastry and Pork Farms.
In June, the manufacturer revealed plans to expand operations at its Palethorpes bakery at Market Drayton in Shropshire, creating 65 new roles to deliver new product development and respond to increased demand for savoury products.
May last year saw fire crews attend the site to tackle a blaze located in one of the factory’s conveyor ovens.
Pork Farms won an award for Best Use of Food Ingredients at Food Manufacture’s 2013 Food Manufacturing Excellence Awards for devising a runny centred, warm-serve Scotch egg. The innovation is one of the products now produced at the Shaftesbury factory.
The 2021 awards are now open for entries. Do you have what it takes to win? Online entries are free and close on 14 September. Winners are scheduled be announced at a gala dinner at the London Hilton Bankside on 11 February.
