Mixing room fire stops production at Goodyear factory in Thailand

Pathum Thani, Thailand - A fire in a mixing room in Goodyear's tyre factory in Thailand has led to a temporary loss of production at the plant. No-one was injured in the blaze, which reportedly required 50 fire trucks to bring under control. Goodyear said the fire broke out at around 11:15 pm local time on Friday 3 March and local press reports suggested it was under control around two hours later.

Goodyear said the factory is currently at a standstill while investigations are carried out into the cause of the fire. The company said it was too soon to comment either on possible causes or on when production might resume. It added however, that the blaze was limited to the mixing area and none of the warehouses associated with the facility was affected. Goodyear described local press reports that the warehouses had burned down as, "completely incorrect."

The Thai factory is one of three poles around the world for Goodyear's aviation activities, along with Danville in the US, and Brazil. A spokesman said it was too soon to speculate on what might happen to its aviation business.

The factory employs around 700 and makes car and light truck tyres as well as aviation tyres and aviation retreads. Goodyear says it has contingency plans in place to cover this kind of incident and added that the factory contributes less than one perceont of the company's total capacity around the world. A Goodyear statement said the company would, "take all necessary steps to minimise effects on customers and will keep them informed on production supply plans that might affect them."