KEY POINTS:
Good news for both humans and birds after this morning's fire at the Tegel processing plant in Christchurch.
The blaze which started at around 4:30am sent acrid smoke billowing into the sky, destroying one building before finally being brought under control by firefighters.
However, on the bright side, Tegel group chief financial officer Rob Aitken says no-one was injured in the blaze and nor were any chickens.
Meanwhile, Tegel is advising staff they will still be getting their base pay despite this morning's blaze. Staff turning up for their shift were turned away by police manning road-blocks around the factory.
Rob Aitken says 140 staff work in the destroyed plant and human resources staff will be on site to talk to them.
He says Tegel will work with the Poultry Industry Association in a bid to find alternative plant in order to keep the operation running.
55 firefighters
At its peak about 55 firefighters battled the blaze in the 80 by 40 metre building.
The fire was contained to that building, all personnel had been accounted for and all dangerous good had been made safe, shift manager of the fire service's southern communications centre Andrew Norris said earlier.
The cause of the fire was not immediately known.
The factory is one of three major poultry processing plants in New Zealand and is the only plant in the South Island.
Tegel is New Zealand's largest poultry producer. It is owned by Australian-based equity firm Pacific Equity Partners (PEP).
- NZPA / NEWSTALK ZB
