Fire rips through McHale farm machinery plant
An investigation is under way into the cause of major blaze at a McHale Engineering agricultural plant.
More than 30 firefighters and three ambulances were scrambled to tackle the fire at the factory in Ballinrobe, Co Mayo, Ireland, on Tuesday evening (2 June).
There were no reports of any injuries. However, a sequence of explosions were heard coming from within the farm machinery plant.
The cause of the fire has not been established, but an RTE report suggested it started in a paint shop at the end of an old building in the site, where machinery is stored, in Castlebar Road.
Units from Mayo Fire Brigade are attending a fire at McHale agricultural plant in Ballinrobe, Co Mayo pic.twitter.com/GiX5Xzu6wv
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) June 2, 2015
McHale is a family-run business, established by brothers Padraic and Martin McHale more than 30 years ago.
The company is one of the world-leading producers of balers and bale wrappers for the production of round and square baled silage, and round bales of hay and straw. It exports machinery to the UK and countries across the world.
The Irish Fire Service said firefighters had managed to contain the fire overnight. McHale was expected to release details on the level of damage later today (Wednesday, 3Â June).
Irish agriculture minister Simon Coveney visited the scene in the early hours.