Tamworth firefighters fully extinguish and cool smouldering grain after rushing to Ridley stock feed grain mill shed

Four fire trucks and their crews from the two Tamworth stations were urgently called to the Ridley complex at Taminda just after 8am on Wednesday, after reports of smoke emerging from the steel shed.

Fire and Rescue NSW Superintendent Tom Cooper told the Leader firefighters managed to extinguish the fire but it was quite a long and complex task.

"It was a very protracted incident," he said.

Firefighters went on the "offensive" attack and donned breathing apparatus inside the building when they arrived, before using thermal imaging cameras to pinpoint hotspots within the grain crushing machinery.

Bolts were then undone and access panels removed so crews could cool the problem areas within the shed's machinery, which was crushing almond shells into meal for stock feed.

READ ALSO:

"That sort of dust ... can smoulder for quite some time so if you need to get a hold of it and make sure it's out properly," Superintendent Cooper said.

He said the Ridley site supervisor would keep an eye on the steel shed to ensure there were no more burning remnants.

"The site was really well maintained which made the job a lot easier for firefighters," he said.

"Site management was able to access plans to assist firefighters ... they were able to explain to firefighters the exact process and how the product moved."

Superintendent Cooper said the grain had become hot enough to ignite and start smouldering, causing smoke.

Firefighters were up on the nearby silos checking that none of the burning grain made it in there, and there was minimal damage done to the actual shed.

The job wrapped up about 1pm and no injuries were reported.

The cause of the incident has not been confirmed.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: