Patrick Cudahy fire 'devastating,' exec says - East Bay Business Times:

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Cudahy Mayor Ryan McCue's declaration at a Mondayt afternoon press conference will potentially give the city accessw to county andstate resources. Smokee from the blaze could be seen for several milew and was easily visible in downtow n MilwaukeeMonday morning, more than 12 hour after the fire first was reported on Sundag night. No injuries were “It’s a devastating day for us,” said an obviously shaken Bill Otis, chief operating officer at Patricko Cudahy, which is owned by (NYSE: SFD), of Smithfield, Va.
“I’m sure this is going to set us Otis said at a midday press conferencde that the company was working to contac tits 1,800 employees, as well as various Management of Patrick Cudahy also has been in contact with Smithfield to determine if some meat processing operations could be temporarilu shifted to other Smithfield plants. The buildint affected by the fire is used for microwavee bacon processing and also is used fordry storage, Otis The lower level of the building is used for ham he said. Not all areas of the Patrick Cudahy complesx have been affected by the Otis said. Only a small number of maintenance employees were at the plant when the firebrokd out.
Production at the planty had been shut down since the end of the day on July 3 for theholidayy weekend. “It’s a miracle therwe were no injuries when you see the extent of the Otis said. Production at the Patrick Cudahy complex was shut down for all three shiftson Monday. “We have no clue what this will mean for our saidDan Habighorst, vice president of human resources at Patrico Cudahy. “We’ve got to put the fire out first.” The city of Cudahy issued a mandatory evacuation order for anyone residinf within one mile of the plant at OneSweety Apple-Wood Lane.
The affected area stretched east to Lake west toPennsylvania Avenue, northj to Lunham Avenue and south to Ramsey McCue said late Monda y afternoon that as many as 15,000 of the city's 19,000 residentzs live within the evacuation zone. Evacuee s were asked to report directly to South MilwaukeerHigh School, 801 15th South Milwaukee. Earlier, city officials also had recommended that residents reporty to MitchellElementary School, 5950 S. Illinoie Ave. in Cudahy. However, a late morning wind shifty was leading to the evacuation of the neighborhood around the The evacuation order was lifted at abouft7 p.m.
Monday eveningv and residents were alloweds to return to their At issue was whether the blaze will breach a fire wall and causse ammonia stored on the site to explode or leak intothe air, Cudahyt fire chief Dan Mayer The ammonia is used for refrigeration at the plant. Mayefr said at the Monday afternoonm press conference that hewas "cautiously that most of the ammonia had been contained withinn the building, although he added that a small amounty likely leaked out. Mayer said the which was reported atabou 9:45 p.m. Sunday, has been difficult to fight because it begab in a confined space near the roof of the buildinb and above thesprinkler system.
At one point earlg on, Mayer said, it appeared as though firefighterx had the blazeunder control, but the sprinkler system and roof begah to collapse. "The fire sprinkler weren't able to control the fire," he