Distraught owner of Jasiz Gourmet Products at Blair Athol speaks after huge fire rips his business

The distraught owner of a Blair Athol warehouse that distributes goods imported from India says he is not sure how he’ll rebuild his business after it was destroyed in a fire on Friday night.

The distraught owner of a Blair Athol warehouse that went up in flames on Friday night says he will have to rebuild his business “brick by brick”.

Police today are investigating the blaze at the business on Trigg Street, which broke out about 6.20pm and took 60 MFS firefighters and 16 trucks to contain.

The building was at risk of structural collapse last night.

Neighbours said they could hear loud explosions as the fire took hold.

Firefighters used multiple aerial appliances like scissor lifts and ladders, allowing them to combat the fire from above.

Other firefighters cut their way through the garage doors of the business to fight the fire from outside.

A factory has gone up in flames in Blair Athol. Picture: Mitch Mott

The factory fire in Blair Athol. Picture: Mitch Mott

Jas Dhiman, who owns and operates Jasiz Gourmet Products, a distributor of goods imported from India, told The Advertiser on Saturday he had been left feeling devastated after the fire.

“(Rebuilding) the business is the hard part,” Mr Dhiman said.

“I’m not sure…how to build up again from scratch,” he said.

“We have to start small, brick by brick”.

He estimated the fire had caused close to $1m damage, including $300,000 in stock inside the warehouse. It was unclear what would happen to stock that was scheduled to be imported.

A factory workplace in Blair Athol has gone up in a huge fire. Picture: Mitch Mott

A warehouse has gone up in flames at Blair Athol. Picture: Mitch Mott

Mr Dhiman said he believed a packaging machine or compressor may have sparked the blaze and he considered himself lucky he had left the site just half an hour before the blaze started.

Dale Thompson of the MFS said the cause of the fire had not been determined but that it was a tragedy for Mr Dhiman.

“He’s built the business up himself,” Mr Thompson said.

“He owns the property and the business himself and he’s lost both in one night.”

Mr Thompson praised MFS crews for bringing the blaze under control in less than an hour.

“Normally these sort of fires we’d be here for four, five, six, seven hours fighting them,” he said.

An MFS spokesperson investigators believed the fire was accidental but the exact cause was undetermined.

They said the damage to the warehouse was more than $1m.

The warehouse was insured and insurance investigators were expected to take over the scene from MFS and SA Police in the coming days.

Firefighters are using multiple aerial fire appliances to tackle the blaze. Picture: Mitch Mott