‘Like starting from scratch’
A blackened pile of burnt and twisted metal is all that remains of Dannevirke’s Blast and Coat, but owner Rowan Huxford is calmly carrying on.
The corrugated iron building on Miller Rd has been partially demolished by the fire service after a fire broke out on Tuesday morning last week.
Stuff visited the site yesterday and the scale of the damage was clear to see. A customer’s Ford Focus hatchback, whichwas in for some work, was now a charred shellwhile the company’s forklift, generator and work truckwere among many items completely gutted by the flames.
Despite the damage to his business, Huxford remained resilient and said he was mostly focused on getting back up and running. ‘‘Thankfully, we’re all insured, and we’re going through the process now. It’s all replaceable but it’s just amatter of how quickly it all gets replaced as there’s a big wait for tools right now.
‘‘It’s honestly like starting a new workshop from scratch.’’
The powder coating room was the main part of the business out of commission but Huxford and his team were still able to conduct sandblasting and painting services in theirwarehouse next door.
Though the other buildingwas covered in blackenedmarks with a few bits of melted plastic, structurally, it was safe to use.
‘‘We don’t really know yet when we’ll find somewhere new, it’s all up in the air. Bit of shock for the guys, but we’ll keep pushing on. My main concern is just tomake sure we can keep going and that the guys still have a job to go to.’’
A specialist fire investigator was working to determine the cause.