Fire at KWV in Paarl contained

A fire at the KWV bottling plant in southern Paarl has been contained. 

KWV CEO Boyce Lloyd said in a statement that the fire had broken out between 6:30am and 7am.

"Authorities and support services acted swiftly and the fire was brought under control. One third-party service provider employee was admitted to hospital for smoke inhalation, whilst another was treated and released. Four KWV employees were treated on site for smoke inhalation,” said Lloyd.

“The damage is currently being assessed and KWV will provide an update when more information is known. Logistical and related distribution operations should suffer minimal disruption. KWV is thankful for the quick and efficient response by various emergency and supplier services.”

Drakenstein municipality spokesperson Riana Geldenhuys said Drakenstein 

municipality’s fire department and vehicles from the Cape Winelands district municipality and the Stellenbosch municipality had attended to the blaze.

The building consists of three adjacent stores. Geldenhuys said 48 firefighters, several officers and 14 firefighting vehicles were on the scene.

Firefighters managed to prevent the flames from damaging tanks that store about 90,000 litres of brandy.

Geldenhuys said mainly machinery, office equipment and bottles on pallets were damaged in the fire.

"Drakenstein municipality’s fire services department remains at the scene as mopping-up operations continue. The cause of the fire is unknown and is being investigated by the South African Police Service."