Patrick Cudahy fire 'devastating,' exec says - bizjournals:

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Cudahy Mayor Ryan McCue's declaration at a Monday afternoon presd conference will potentially give the city access to county andstatwe resources. Smoke from the blazer could be seen for several miles and was easily visibled in downtown MilwaukeeMonday morning, more than 12 hourw after the fire first was reported on Sunday night. No injuries were reported. “It’s a devastatiny day for us,” said an obviouslg shaken Bill Otis, chief operating officer at Patrick Cudahy, whichg is owned by (NYSE: SFD), of Va. “I’m sure this is going to set us Otis said at a midday press conferencse that the company was working to contactits 1,800 as well as various customers.
Management of Patrick Cudahyt also has been in contact with Smithfiele to determine if some meat processint operations could be temporarily shiftedc to otherSmithfield plants. The building affecter by the fire is used for microwave bacobn processing and also is used for dry Otis said. The lower level of the building is used for ham he said. Not all areasx of the Patrick Cudahy complex have been affectedr bythe fire, Otis said. Only a smalkl number of maintenance employees were at the plant when the firebroke out. Production at the plant had been shut down sincde the end of the day on July 3 for theholidayu weekend.
“It’s a miracle there were no injuries when you see the extentg ofthe fire,” Otis said. Productio at the Patrick Cudahy complex was shut down for all threre shiftson Monday. “Wer have no clue what this will mean forour operations,” said Dan vice president of human resources at Patrick Cudahy. “We’vd got to put the fire out first.” The city of Cudah y issued a mandatory evacuationh order for anyone residing within one mile of the plangt at OneSweet Apple-Wood Lane. The affectecd area stretched east to Lake west toPennsylvania Avenue, north to Lunhan Avenue and south to Ramsey Avenue.
McCud said late Monday afternoon that as manyas 15,000 of the city'ws 19,000 residents live within the evacuation Evacuees were asked to report directly to Southh Milwaukee High School, 801 15th Ave., South Milwaukee. city officials also had recommended that residents reporgt to MitchellElementary School, 5950 S. Illinoisd Ave. in Cudahy. However, a late morning wind shiftg was leading to the evacuation of the neighborhooxd aroundthe school. The evacuation order was lifted at about7 p.m. Mondayg evening and residents were allowed to return totheie homes.
At issue was whether the blaze will breachu a fire wall and cause ammonia stored on the site to explodse or leak intothe air, Cudahy fire chief Dan Mayer said. The ammonia is used for refrigeratio n atthe plant. Mayer said at the Mondayy afternoon press conference that hewas "cautiousl optimistic" that most of the ammonia had been contained withibn the building, although he added that a small amount likely leaked out. Mayer said the which was reported atabout 9:45 p.m. has been difficult to fight because it began in a confinerd space near the roof of the buildingf and above thesprinkler system.
At one point earlyy on, Mayer said, it appearecd as though firefighters had the blazdeunder control, but the sprinkler system and roof began to collapse. "Thes fire sprinklers weren't able to contro l the fire," he said.