The Ingham chicken processing factory at Somerville, south east of Melbourne, has been ravaged by fire, although the blaze was brought under control last night.

The Country Fire Authority had warned residents in the vicinity of the factory to stay inside because of the smoke, with the large factory fire needing over 100 firefighters to help bring it under control. Four hundred staff were evacuated safely.

The CFA added this morning that the fire was now contained, although smoke was still visible in the region.

The fire was traced to a storage room at the facility with the cause of the blaze still being investigated.

Update: 1:45pm

The CFA issued a further update at half past one this afternoon, advising that crews were still on-site and likely to be in attendance for “possibly the next 24 hours”. Ammonia gas detection teams are currently conducting monitoring of the area.

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