Icepak directors to face charges over fatal fire

The Department of Labour will proceed with charges against three Icepak Coolstore directors over a fatal explosion and fire in April last year.

The department and Icepak had been in talks to drop charges against the directors, Jan Van Eden, Iain Slight and Wayne Grattan, and proceed only against the company.

But in Hamilton District Court today, the Department of Labour elected to proceed with the charges after the talks came to nothing, Radio New Zealand reported.

The company faces three Health and Safety in Employment Act charges, with the directors facing one charge each.

A second company, Mobile Refrigeration Specialists and its director, Warren Cook, also face charges.

A huge fire and explosion at the Icepak coolstore in the Hamilton suburb of Tamahere left Hamilton senior station officer Derek Lovell dead and seven other firefighters injured.

The charges focus on a failure to take practical steps to ensure the safety of people, particularly the firefighters.

Both companies and their directors have pleaded not guilty.

- NZPA