Offaly's Glenisk yogurt plant completely destroyed in devastating fire

In the aftermath of a huge fire which completely destroyed the Glenisk yogurt manufacturing plant outside the county Offaly village of Killeigh today (Monday), one of the Directors of the business has vowed to salvage whatever they can and start again.

In an RTE interview outside the gutted factory this afternoon, Glenisk Director, Gerard Cleary, said “basically everything” was lost in the devastating fire, but he added that the management team at the plant were “resilient” and he vowed that they would “fight back.”

The fire, which was brought under control after several hours, resulted in the complete evacuation of all 50 staff, some of whom had to be treated at the scene by paramedics for smoke inhalation. Mr. Cleary told RTE that he was grateful that the plant’s safety and emergency plan had worked effectively and that all staff had been safely evacuated. He also paid tribute to the emergency personnel who had attended at the scene.

The award-winning company, which was founded by the Cleary family from Newtown, on the outskirts of Killeigh , and about 8 km from Tullamore, is now one of the leading suppliers of premium organic yogurt to the Irish market, and is also sold in many European countries.

However, Gerard Cleary admitted to RTE that “anything that gets us a pot of yogurt to the supermarket shelf, that’s all gone at the moment” and he said the company would have to see what they could salvage “and just start again, that’s all we can do.”

The alarm was raised at the Glenisk plant at around 11am this morning and emergency crews rushed to the scene where thick black smoke could be seen rising from the factory. Over 30 firefighters from both the Offaly and Laois Fire & Rescue Service mounted a joint operation in an effort to contain the blaze, with fire crews from Offaly Fire Stations in Tullamore, Clara, Edenderry and Clara battling alongside their colleagues from Portarlington in neighbouring Laois.

Members of An Garda Siochana were also on the scene along with personnel from the National Ambulance Service, and local Gardai advised householders living in the immediate vicinity of the fire to remain indoors and to keep their windows closed.

At the height of the blaze earlier today, Gardai took the decision to close a section of road in the vicinity of the Glenisk plant and advised motorists to avoid the area completely. Traffic was restricted to local access only until the blaze was brought under control.