Almost 100 awards to be presented to South Burnett firefighters over massive abattoir blaze

Fire and Emergency Services Minister Craig Crawford and QFES Commissioner Katarina Carroll will today (Saturday) present awards to 99 QFES men and women involved in battling Kingaroy’s Swickers abattoir fire in 2016.

Mr Crawford said a large crowd of firefighters, SES workers and community members were expected to turn out at this morning’s ceremony at Kingaroy’s Common Town Hall.

“The Swickers and Kingaroy story is remarkable – everyone has pulled together to get the town, the factory and the community back on its feet,” Mr Crawford said.

“Today, we will be saying thank you to many people – because this has been a major effort, from the local community, to the South Burnett Regional Council and the Queensland Government.

“But especially, we want to say thank you to the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services workers who battled to save the abattoir.

“It took 50 firefighters and 14 appliances, scientific officers and two SES units 11 hours to bring the fire under control.

“Everyone knew the Swickers abattoir was critical to the people of Kingaroy and its surrounding area, so QFES and the community fought very hard to save the factory.”

The Swickers Bacon factory is the only major export-accredited pig abattoir in Queensland, and employs 580 workers and processes 18,000 pigs a week.

Fire destroyed the export distribution centre, boning room and chillers on Sunday 6 November 2016. Commissioner Carroll said it was the herculean effort of the QFES personnel that saved the business.

“The fire threatened the 7-tonne anhydrous ammonia plant and as a result crews were required to rotate through Breathing Apparatus duties to ensure they protected themselves against the highly toxic smoke,” Ms Carroll said.

“Loss of the ammonia plant could have been catastrophic and it was the efforts of the QFES team that prevented this,” she said.

Commissioner Unit Commendations will be presented to those involved in recognition of their dedication, high standard of skill, professionalism and extraordinary efforts, beyond the expectations of the ordinary firefighter.

Two National medals will also be presented at the ceremony.

ENDS

MEDIA 0412 393 909