More than 20 fire appliances ultimately responded to the Thomas Foods International abattoir near Murray Bridge, 76 kilometres south-east of Adelaide, after a fire reported just before 7.00pm on Wednesday 3 January spread rapidly through the building.

There were hundreds of employees working in the 8,000 square metre building at the time; all were evacuated safely, as well as all livestock in the facility.

At the fire’s peak, 100 firefighters from 13 South Australian Metropolitan Fire Service (SAMFS) and 11 South Australian Country Fire Service (SACFS) units were involved. Hazards faced included complex construction elements, ammonia leaks, other toxic gases and large-scale structural collapse. As the incident progressed over several days, 6,000 decomposing beef and lamb carcasses added to the hazard.

SAMFS was the control agency for the incident, supported by SACFS; South Australia Police (SAPOL), who provided traffic and crowd control; SA Ambulance Service (SAAS) paramedics, who monitored firefighters’ health; and the South Australian State Emergency Service (SA SES), who provided lighting and pollution control. The Salvation Army provided meals to emergency responders and employees during the fire’s early stages.

The fire destroyed the abattoir’s boning room, recently part of a multi-million-dollar upgrade, and much of its storage area. However, the fire was prevented from spreading to the slaughter floors, stock loading areas, nearby administration buildings and the ammonia and rendering plants; enabling limited production to continue.

While the fire was controlled within eight hours, it was 15 days before emergency managers completed work at the scene due to emerging risks and the need for extra control measures. No-one was killed or injured in the fire, which was started accidentally by a worker welding outside the building.

Thomas Foods employs more than 3,000 people in its processing and distribution facilities in Australia and overseas. Thomas Foods is the largest employer in Murray Bridge, employing more than 1,400 people; a mix of locals and migrants on skilled worker visas.

Given the economic importance of the plant, the South Australian Government immediately created a multi-agency taskforce under the control of the Department of Primary Industries and Regions to work with Thomas Foods, to help the company recover and support affected workers.

Within weeks of the fire, almost every permanent employee had been redeployed; some to the company’s smaller abattoirs at Lobethal, South Australia, and Tamworth, New South Wales, and some within other industries. The transfer of employees to the company’s other two plants enabled lamb and sheep processing to be largely unaffected. However, production of beef goods was impacted despite arrangements with a Victorian abattoir to process additional cattle.