An hour into his working day, storekeeper Joe Calleja detected a strong smell of smoke and, as he searched through the Marsa food stores, he realised there was a fire in the freezer area.

“It was about 8 a.m. when I saw smoke and smelt burning plastic... First, I went to check the compressor but all was fine. Then, I checked the alcohol store but there was nothing. I then saw smoke coming out of the freezer area,” said Mr Calleja, who works in the stores of foodstuffs company Paolo Bonnici Ltd.

He recounted how he tried to get inside the store – where chocolates, sweets and other cold items were stored – but the smoke was too thick.

“There was a small fire in the middle of the room. It seemed to be high, close to the ceiling,” he recounted, adding that, thankfully, none of his colleagues were injured.

As the smoke spread, workers had to be evacuated. The police and personnel from the Civil Protection Department rushed to the scene with five fire engines. It took the CPD about 90 minutes to control the blaze because the store lacked ventilation and the thick smoke made it difficult for them to work.

CPD director Patrick Murgo said the fire seemed to originate from the ceiling where there were several wires. He suspected the fire could have been caused by a short circuit but investigations still had to establish the exact cause.

He explained that the company’s frozen food area included cold stores and what looked like a garage where various fridges were located. The fire was located in that area.

A similar incident happened at the Marsa meat factory Prime Ltd last October when a fire broke out near the ham-cooking machinery. Even then the smell of things burning had alerted workers to the fire and no one was injured.

At about 1 a.m. yesterday, a car caught fire in Pilgrimage Street, Cospicua. The CPD were called to put out the fire on a Mitsubishi Pajero. No one was hurt although the car was extensively damaged.