Fire guts Adelaide sign business

The Rodney Robertson signage facility has been completely destroyed by a raging fire overnight, with the Adelaide premises now just a smouldering wreck.

Local news media in Adelaide reports the fire chief ruling out anything suspicious from the Robertson blaze.The fire broke out at 2am this morning, and had 60 firefighters on site fighting the blaze. Local residents in the Edwardstown area were doorknocked and told to close all windows and doors, to prevent plastic toxins in the smoke billowing from the factory from coming into their homes.

The fire chief told local media that it was ”a deeply-seated fire, a very high fuel load and there was obviously a lot of materials related to printing presses and display facilities, so it was very well fed.”

Firefighters are expected to remain at the premises all day. Local news media is reporting a damage bill of $5m.

Long-time owner is Malcolm Miller. The company was founded in 1948. It is one of the biggest sign and display businesses in SA, and produces a host of signage, POS and display print for blue chip clients including AusPost, Channel 9 and Mercedes Benz.

The blaze comes almost exactly a year after another Adelaide sign business, Big Image, which was destroyed on Boxing Day last year. The business, owned by Carlo Capogreco, managed to carry on trading thanks to industry support.