Macco Feeds gets back to work after fire

The Williams-based operation has one press going that is producing about 250 tonnes per day.

Mill manager Phil Beresford said all orders for pellets were being met, as the factory was running 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

It was only operating on five days per week before the fire.

"We are only able to use about 60 per cent of our equipment, but the output (of pellets) is about the same," Mr Beresford said.

He said the factory fire was sparked by a loader fire, with strong easterly winds pushing the flames into the mill area.

This ignited 400 straw bales within minutes and these are still smoldering - but are under control and safe.

"All 400 bales were destroyed, right in the middle of our peak production period," Mr Beresford said.

"And it couldn't have happened in a worse year, when there is such a shortage of feed across southern WA."

Worse for the Macco Feeds business has been the electrical damage caused by the fire.

Mr Beresford said it could take 12 months to fully restore and upgrade the electrical system to meet compliance requirements.

In the meantime, he said the company was bringing in fodder as needed, rather than storing large quantities of bales.

"We have capacity to store 5000 bales about 80 metres away from the mill and we will just transfer it across as needed for processing," he said.

Mr Beresford said Macco Feeds had secured all of its hay, straw and grain in October/November last year, so was not having difficulties finding raw materials.

He praised the community response to the fire that saw about 50 firefighters and volunteers arrive very quickly.

Macco Feeds is a family-owned company and its output is about 2000 tonnes of pellets every week.

It was named one of the safest businesses in the State last year, winning the Work Health and Safety Excellence Award in the category for businesses with 199 or fewer employees.