b"FIRE, FIRE of a sudden, you get burned down. We were out of business for twelve months in that In 1996, Johnsons faced two fires within department, but Dad kept every single person a couple of weeks of each other. They wereon. Employees had the option of working at started by a pyromaniac who lived just acrossHorsham or Boort, plus we had another hay the road from the factory, says Denis. In thefactory in the main street. He didnt need to end, they caught the guy because the TV run that many people, but he didlooking news showed him filming both fires with after the workers was really important to him. his own camera. Despite the enormous setback, and with the The business sustained huge damages andsupport of suppliers and customers, Johnson's extensive loss. More than 10,000 tonnes of hayquickly rebuilt bigger and better than before. and a couple of big sheds were destroyed inWithin a year, fully enclosed sheds had the first fire. After the second, the business replaced the old open-sided sheds; security lost all its export hay and suffered damage cameras were installed; security fencing was to the plant, equipment and pellet mill.upgraded; and a VESDA (very early smoke detection apparatus) system was installed Robbie Johnson remembers how the firesto detect early signs of smoke. Denis also affected Denis. Dad was devastatedyouintroduced a Firefly system that shutsbuild this big hay plant, and the business isdown production if a spark is detected. heading in a really good direction. Then, all 58 JOHNSONS100 YEARS IN THE MAKING"