Production to continue after factory blaze

WORK could resume today at one of mid-Cork’s biggest employers, despite a massive fire that destroyed part of the premises yesterday.

Residents in Macroom woke to see what they thought was snow falling, only to discover it was ash drifting over the town from the blaze at Mid-Cork Pallets & Packaging in Clondrohid, almost five miles away. The factory employs more than 100 people in the production of pallets and packaging, mostly from timber. The company also supplies aluminium and plastic products.

The fire is understood to have been confined to a building used mainly for storage of timber stock and raw materials.

However, while the roof of the building had caved in, a fire officer said the production area of the plant was saved.

This could allow production work to resume as early as this morning, although the exact time scale of any return to normal working was uncertain last night.

The blaze was brought under control by lunchtime yesterday.

The cause of the fire will be the subject of an investigation by gardaí, who were waiting for control of the scene to be handed over from fire services yesterday afternoon.

The emergency response included units from fire stations in Macroom, Millstreet, Ballincollig and Killarney, aided by a water tanker brought from Bandon.

A Cork County Council fire brigade spokesperson said they were alerted around 8am but icy road conditions made initial access to the site difficult.

The company, which was set up in 1977, employs more than 100 people at the facility of more than 20,000 square metres, making it one of the area’s biggest employers.

Martin Coughlan, a local Labour Party councillor and former mayor of Macroom, said while it was unclear yet what effect the fire would have on production and employment, the potential impact was worrying.

“It’s something we could have done without in the current economic circumstances,” he said.