Power outage sparks fire in fryer at crisp factory

A power cut sparked a fire inside an industrial fryer used to make crisps at the KP Snacks factory.
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The team at the plant, in Macklin Avenue in Billingham, alerted Cleveland Fire Brigade after the outage led to issues with the extraction system.

Workers were quickly evacuated from the building, with no one injured during the incident.

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The fire service said the fire left the industrial crisp fryer severely damaged, with smoke logging caused on the factory floor.

The fire happened inside an industrial fryer at the KP Snacks factory in Billingham.The fire happened inside an industrial fryer at the KP Snacks factory in Billingham.
The fire happened inside an industrial fryer at the KP Snacks factory in Billingham.
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It sent crews from Stockton and Saltburn to the scene, on the Cowpen Industrial Estate, following the call out at 8.23pm yesterday, Monday, December 28, with four appliances attending the incident in total.

Eight firefighters wearing breathing apparatus were sent in to tackle the fire, with a jet and hose reel used, with the building’s internal drenching system also activated.

The teams then used a thermal imaging camera to ensure the fire was fully extinguished.

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The firefighters remained on scene until 11.10pm as checks continued, with the company allowing its workforce to return into unaffected areas of the plant by 8.45pm.

A spokesperson for KP Snacks said: “I can confirm that the fire brigade attended our Teesside site last night to deal with a minor incident following a power outage in the local area.

"Nobody was injured and the power was restored by 8:45pm.”

In addition to KP crisps, the firm also makes brands including McCoy’s, Hula Hoops, Tyrrells, Pom Bear, Popchips, Skips, Space Raiders, Nik Naks, Wheat Crunchies, Discos and Frisps.

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