April 12, 2024

Fire at feed mill in Western Australia's south destroys 400 hay bales

A fire has torn through an agricultural feed factory in Western Australia's south, causing thousands of dollars' worth of damage and destroying hundreds of hay bales.

The blaze at Macco Feeds, near Williams, 170 kilometres south of Perth, occurred on April 8. The fire, which destroyed about 400 hay bales and damaged the mill, flared up again on the following day.

The fire came at a time when demand for feed is high. Tens of thousands of dollars' worth of hay was estimated to have been lost, but mill manager Phil Beresford said it would be some time before the full cost of the damage was known.

The mill, which supplies livestock transport and feedlot operators in the region, had enough surplus to keep operations running until the production restarted.

Beresford said he could not imagine a worse time for the mill to be out of action. "[Considering] production at this time of the year … it's pretty important that we are running," he added.

- ABC News