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The coolstore company at the centre of a series of investigations after a fatal explosion at its Tamahere operation has confirmed it is using propane as a refrigerant at one of its Waikato plants.
Icepak managing director Wayne Grattan told the Herald the flammable refrigerant was being used at its Waharoa factory near Matamata.
But yesterday he said the company would convert to the less flammable freon gas within the next week.
Asked if the change was brought on by the explosion at Tamahere, Mr Grattan said: "The changes are because we don't yet know what has happened at Tamahere."
Mr Grattan said the company received a $60,800 grant from the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority to part-fund a demonstration project using propane at Waharoa last year.
A spokeswoman for the EECA said the grant was to help with the additional costs of using the refrigerant, including safety equipment and gas sensors, which Icepak had at its Waharoa site.
The EECA did not know if propane refrigerants were used at Tamahere.
Fire Service spokesman Scott Sargentina said to the best of the service's knowledge, propane was the refrigerant used in Tamahere.
"But we certainly can't confirm at this stage that it had anything to do with what caused the explosion in the first place," he said.
Mr Sargentina said the Fire Service was investigating the number of coolstores that used the refrigerant to forewarn firefighters attending callouts at future incidents.
He said details of whether the firefighters attending the Tamahere callout were forewarned would become available when a report was completed, within the next 90 days.
Mr Grattan said the company was a few weeks away from deciding whether the Tamahere site would be rebuilt.
