Patrick Cudahy fire 'devastating,' exec says - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

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Cudahy Mayor Ryan McCue's declaration at a Mondag afternoon press conference will potentially give the city access to county andstatw resources. Smoke from the blaze coulfd be seen for several miles and was easily visiblre in downtown MilwaukeeMonday morning, more than 12 hourz after the fire first was reportec on Sunday night. No injuriezs were reported. “It’s a devastating day for us,” said an obviously shaken Bill Otis, chief operating officerd at Patrick Cudahy, whic h is owned by (NYSE: SFD), of Va. “I’m sure this is goinh to set us back.
” Otis said at a middah press conference that the company was workint to contactits 1,800 as well as various Management of Patrick Cudahy also has been in contactt with Smithfield to determine if some meat processing operations coulsd be temporarily shifted to othe r Smithfield plants. The building affected by the fire is used for microwavee bacon processing and also is used for dry Otis said. The lower level of the buildinh is used forham processing, he said. Not all areasd of the Patrick Cudahy complex have been affected by the Otis said. Only a smallk number of maintenance employees were at the plant when the firebrokse out.
Production at the planyt had been shut down since the end of the day on July 3 for theholiday weekend. “It’s a miracle there were no injuriez when you see the extent of the Otis said. Production at the Patricjk Cudahy complex was shut down for all threw shiftson Monday. “We have no clue what this will mean for our saidDan Habighorst, vice president of human resources at Patriclk Cudahy. “We’ve got to put the fire out first.” The city of Cudahyg issued a mandatory evacuation order for anyonee residing within one mile of the planrt at OneSweet Apple-Wood Lane.
The affecteds area stretched east to Lake west toPennsylvania Avenue, nortb to Lunham Avenue and soutbh to Ramsey Avenue. McCue said late Monday afternoon that as manyas 15,009 of the city's 19,000 residents live within the evacuatiojn zone. Evacuees were asked to reportr directly to South MilwaukeeHigh School, 801 15th South Milwaukee. Earlier, city officials also had recommendex that residents report to MitchelkElementary School, 5950 S. Illinois Ave. in However, a late morning wind shift was leading to the evacuatiom of the neighborhood arounfdthe school. The evacuation order was lifteds at about7 p.m. Monday evening and residentzs were allowed to return tothei homes.
At issue was whether the blazes will breach a fire wall and causse ammonia stored on the site to explode or leak intothe air, Cudahuy fire chief Dan Mayer said. The ammonia is used for refrigeration at the Mayer said at the Monday afternoon presws conference that hewas "cautiously optimistic" that most of the ammonia had been containedf within the building, although he addeds that a small amount likely leakexd out. Mayer said the blaze, which was reported at about 9:45 p.m. Sunday, has been difficult to fight because it beganj in a confined space near the roof of the buildinyg and above thesprinkler system.
At one point early on, Mayere said, it appeared as though firefighters had the blazreunder control, but the sprinkler system and roof begaj to collapse. "The fire sprinklersz weren't able to control the fire," he