Egg packing facility goes up in flames in Seymour

By Max Stainkamph

Dec 28, 2021

Up in smoke: An egg packing facility south of Seymour went up in flames on Monday night.

A shed containing high-tech egg sorting and packing equipment and a number of chicken eggs at a farm just outside Seymour has gone up in flames.

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Firefighters were called to the blaze in a 20m by 100m packing shed on Hume and Hovell Rds, just south of Seymour, just after 7.30pm on Monday, December 27.

District 12 assistant chief fire officer Rob van Dorsser said the fire had been “burning for some time” inside the shed by the time firefighters arrived on the scene.

Billowing smoke: Black smoke billowed out of the facility on Monday night. Picture: Kathy Ward

“It looks like some of the fridge panelling on the rooves or the roof caught alight somehow and was burning internally for some time before we arrived,” he said.

Firefighters from as far as Bendigo and Cranbourne were called in to assist with the blaze, while aerial support was brought in from Shepparton.

Other water tankers were brought in, as Mr van Dorsser said there were issues getting enough water to douse the blaze.

A smoke cloud drifted across Seymour from the fire. Firefighters were on the scene until 2am.

All hands on deck: Some 55 firefighters attended the facility just south of Seymour. Picture: Kathy Ward

Investigators arrived on the site on Tuesday morning but Mr van Dorsser said there was nothing suspicious about the blaze.

He said a large amount of equipment and technology from the farm was lost in the fire, while a number of eggs were also in the facility, but most were in shrink wrap or other containers.