A fire started just after 6am at Pukepine Sawmills in Te Puke on Sunday and would eventually need 10 fire crews to get it under control.
The co-owner of a Te Puke sawmill damaged by fire at the weekend has thanked the local fire brigade for their quick response.
The blaze, which started just after 6am on Sunday at Pukepine Sawmills on Jellicoe St, would eventually need 10 fire crews to get it under control.
No one was injured.
Pukepine Sawmills general manager and co-owner, Jeff Tanner, said a kiln operator was on duty at the time, noticed the fire in its early stages and "immediately put a call through to the fire service".
"The fire was contained in a small building that housed the control room for the Purepine Mouldings kilns," Mr Tanner said.
"We wish to thank the Te Puke volunteer fire brigade for their quick response."
The fire was contained in a small building that housed the control room for the Purepine Mouldings kilns. Photo/Supplied.
He said the brigade's efforts and experience, along with that of the other stations from Tauranga, Greerton, Mount Maunganui, Papamoa and Maketu, prevented the fire from becoming much more serious.
"The cause of the fire is still being investigated, but it is most likely an electrical fault.
"The loss to the company and its insurers will be significant but we already have a robust plan in place to mitigate the effects of this in our supply channel."
The fire started just after 6am on Sunday at Pukepine Sawmills on Jellicoe St. Photo/Supplied.
Mr Tanner said the loss of the control system meant five of the nine kilns were out of action.
"We estimate it is likely to take two weeks to replace the damaged systems and have the kilns back in operation.
"We can keep this to a relatively short downtime as we were in the later stages of preparing to install new control systems."
He said thanks to the support the company had received since the fire; it had been able to shift drying capacity to other kiln operations, "therefore maintaining business as usual with minimal impact to our customers".
"On behalf of my dad Ken, Paul my brother, and the rest of our management team and staff, we would like to offer our sincere thanks and gratitude for the enormous support we have received from our suppliers, customers, friends and community."
The Pukepine Sawmills operation comprises green and dry mills, several kilns for drying and a timber treatment plant.
"Part of the operation is Purepine Mouldings our secondary processing plant that produces interior and exterior finished timber products for the domestic and export markets and includes a modern priming paint plant," the company's website states.
The whole operation employs approximately 180 people on two shifts.
The sawmill produces 50 per cent structural timber products for the New Zealand and Australian markets, and 50 per cent high-quality appearance-grade products for New Zealand, Australia, North America and Europe.
