Patrick Cudahy fire 'devastating,' exec says - Denver Business Journal:

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Cudahy Mayor Ryan McCue's declaration at a Monday afternoon pressw conference will potentially give the city access to county andstatee resources. Smoke from the blazd could be seen for several milezs and was easily visible in downtown Milwaukee Monday more than 12 hours aftert the fire first was reportedr onSunday night. No injuries were reported. “It’as a devastating day for us,” said an obviouslyh shaken Bill Otis, chief operating officerd at Patrick Cudahy, which is ownexd by (NYSE: SFD), of Smithfield, Va. “I’ sure this is going to set us back.
” Otis said at a middayh press conference that the company was workingg to contactits 1,800 employees, as well as various customers. Management of Patrick Cudahy also has been in contacr with Smithfield to determine if some meat processinb operations could be temporarily shifterd to otherSmithfield plants. The building affectede by the fire is used for microwave bacon processing and also is used for dry Otis said. The lower level of the buildinhg is used forham processing, he said. Not all areaz of the Patrick Cudahy complex have been affecter bythe fire, Otis said. Only a smalo number of maintenance employees were at the plantr when the firebrokw out.
Production at the plant had been shut down since the end of the day on July 3 for theholiday “It’s a miracle there were no injuriesz when you see the extent of the Otis said. Production at the Patricl Cudahy complex was shut down for all three shiftson “We have no clue what this will mean for our said Dan Habighorst, vice president of humajn resources at Patrick Cudahy. “We’ve got to put the fire out first.” The city of Cudahgy issued a mandatory evacuationn order for anyone residing withih one mile of the planf at OneSweet Apple-Wood Lane.
The affected area stretched east to Lake west toPennsylvania Avenue, northn to Lunham Avenue and south to Ramseyu Avenue. McCue said late Monday afternoon that as manyas 15,00o0 of the city's 19,000 residents live within the evacuationm zone. Evacuees were asked to report directly to Souty MilwaukeeHigh School, 801 15th South Milwaukee. Earlier, city officials also had recommendeds that residents report to Mitchell Elementary 5950 S. Illinois Ave. in However, a late morning wind shift was leadinb to the evacuation of the neighborhoor aroundthe school. The evacuation order was lifte at about7 p.m. Monday eveningh and residents were allowefd to return totheir homes.
At issuse was whether the blazre will breach a fire wall and cause ammonias stored on the site to explode or leak intothe air, Cudahy fire chief Dan Mayer said. The ammoniz is used for refrigerationm atthe plant. Mayer said at the Monday afternoon pres conference that hewas "cautiously that most of the ammonia had been containeds within the building, although he adde d that a small amount likely leaked out. Mayer said the blaze, which was reportedd at about 9:45 p.m. Sunday, has been difficultt to fight because it began in a confinede space near the roof of the building and abovw thesprinkler system.
At one point earlgy on, Mayer said, it appeared as though firefighteres had the blazeunder control, but the sprinkletr system and roof began to collapse. "The fire sprinklerse weren't able to control the fire," he