Icepak Coolstores has joined a Tauranga-based refrigeration company in appealing its Tamahere fire sentence, handed down in the High Court at Hamilton last month.

Icepak’s apology for the April 5, 2008 fatal explosion at its Tamahere site was met with an icy response from the surviving firefighter victims.

The fatal Icepak Coolstores explosion and fire of 2008 was a preventable accident and the serious penalties imposed by the court should give employers cause to reflect on the importance of ensuring their sites, workers, and others are safe, says the Labour Department.

A defended hearing for the directors of Icepak Coolstores may take place in October.

The Labour Department’s case against those charged over the fatal coolstore fire at Tamahere near Hamilton last year has been in court again.