Wisynco continues investment in fire-suppression system

Large manufacturing and distribution company Wisynco Group has already pumped about $150 million into a fire-suppression system for its Lakes Pen complex in St Catherine, but Chairman William Mahfood says more funds will be invested in sprinkler systems following another blaze at the property last weekend.

The fire, which broke out in the pallet yard at around 6:30 p.m. on April 1, was contained after some six hours, using water from a 275,000-gallon storage tank the company began building on property after a large fire there six years ago.

“When the fire occurred in 2016, the fire department didn’t have access to large volume, so we’ve addressed that,” Mahfood told the Financial Gleaner.

The water storage tank, which is supplied by hydrants on the premises, is just one component of the property-wide fire-suppression system Wisynco has so far incorporated at its Lakes Pen facility, the other being an early suppression fast-response fire system or water sprinkler system in the recently built Sam Mahfood Distribution Centre to minimise the likelihood of another fire on property. The distribution centre was developed following the 2016 fire that destroyed storage at the Lakes Pen complex.

The sprinkler system is to be extended to the pallet yard and garage, the section of the property where the fire started Friday evening, while other areas being targeted for fire suppression include the cafeteria and the corporate office.

“The fire that happened last week Friday was not in the building. It was on the north side of the property, away from the building. When the fire department responded, because we have the storage facility, they were able to quickly reload their tanks from our suppression system to put out the blaze,” Mahfood said.

Wisynco said in a market filing that the preliminary finding on the cause of the fire was the igniting of scrap wooden pallets, which spread to plastic pallets nearby.

Mahfood said the company is still tallying the losses, but so far, the fire has only affected 50 pallet boards and two company trucks. The fire was said not to have caused any disruptions in Wisynco’s service, and operations continued as normal.

“At the moment we are extending the fire-suppression system to other parts of the property, so there are more investments being made to minimise the risk of fires. I don’t have an estimate for the final development of the fire-suppression system,” he said.

Wisynco, which earns annual revenue of $32 billion, says it suffered minimal loss from the April 1 fire and that there were no injuries or disruption to business resulting from the blaze.

karena.bennett@gleanerjm.com