Investigators are trying to establish the cause of a huge fire at South Australia’s largest meat processing company.
More than 100 firefighters attended the blaze at Thomas Foods International at Northern Heights east Adelaide, around 7pm on Wednesday.
Police say the fire, which engulfed the facility, caused major damage but no one was injured.
Investigators are trying to determine cause of fire at Thomas Food International (pictured)
More than 100 firefighters attended the blaze which broke out 7pm Wednesday (pictured)
Residents told to keep doors and windows closed because black smoke was drifting (pictured)
The plant has a workforce of about 1400 and it’s unclear how many were on site at the time, but the company has reported that all workers were evacuated safely.
Metropolitan Fire Services pumped water from a nearby lagoon to try to bring the blaze under control.
Local residents were told to keep doors and windows closed because black smoke was drifting up and across from the fire.
Stuart Dawes of the Metro Fire Service told 9NEWS that the fire was still burning and crews remain on the scene.
“This is one of the largest fires that we would generally go to in a 12 month period.
“The fire is still burning quite intensely as we have structural collapse now and it’s hard to access the seat of the fire.
Thomas Foods International said that all staff members were evacuated safely on night of fire
The plant (pictured) has a workforce of 1400 and it’s unclear how many were on site at the time
Fire crews are still pumping water (pictured) to try to bring the blaze under control
“We’re still working quite hard, the fire has been contained to the building of origin, but we’re going to be here basically all day trying to access the seat of the fire,” Mr Dawes said.
The privately-owned abattoir processes beef, lamb, goat and mutton and has an annual revenue of more than $1 billion.
The company said it’s made alternative processing arrangements to meet the needs of its customers.
It operates another processing plant at Lobethal, in the Adelaide Hills, and also has operations at Tamworth in NSW and at Wallangarra in Queensland.
Privately-owned abattoir processes beef, lamb and has annual revenue of more than $1 billion