A LARGE number of firefighters are battling a fire at Norske Skog, with about 300 tonnes of recyclable paper affected.
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Firefighters were called to the Ettamogah paper mill about 6.45pm last night, with about 50 firefighters working at the peak of the incident.
Fire and Rescue Superintendent Stewart Alexander said the crews, which had travelled from surrounding areas to assist, would likely stay on scene all day.
“They’re tightly bundled piles, magazines and things like that, which they recycle,” he said.
“It goes into a process to be reused and they’re in bales a few cubic metres in volume.
“There are several hundred, stacked in a warehouse about 30 metres square.
“Access has been our big problem - there’s very limited access.”
The building, which is made of thick concrete, is stable.
“At this time it’s going to be an extended duration incident,” he said.
It’s unclear what caused the blaze but there is nothing to suggest it’s suspicious.
Mr Alexander praised the work of firefighters, who he said had been working in very difficult conditions.