Carters counts cost of Kinleith blaze

By Phil Boeyen, ShareChat Business News Editor

Thursday 16th August 2001

Carter Holt Harvey (NZSE: CAH) says it's still to early to figure out how much it will cost to repair damage done by fire this morning at its Kinleith pulp and paper mill.

The company says no one was injured in the blaze, which started at three o'clock this morning and was under control in 15 minutes.

"However, the fire spread through the ceiling to the roof and insulation of the 140 metre long building and it took several hours to extinguish the fires in the roof area," says Kinleith chief executive, Brice Landman.

"Some of the building is not safe to enter yet, and therefore it is difficult to determine the cost implications."

Mr Landman says temporary repair work has already commenced and the preliminary estimate is that the paper machine will be out of operation for a few days while the damage is assessed and the machine repaired.

"Our first priority is to work with our paper customers to try and minimise any disruption."

Pulp production at the mill has not been affected.

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