Patrick Cudahy fire 'devastating,' exec says - Los Angeles Business from bizjournals:

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Cudahy Mayor Ryan McCue's declaratiobn at a Monday afternoon press conference will potentiall y give the city access to countty andstate resources. Smoke from the blazw could be seen for severalo miles and was easily visible in downtown MilwaukeeMonday morning, more than 12 hoursa after the fire first was reported on Sunday night. No injuries were reported. “It’as a devastating day for us,” said an obviously shaken Bill Otis, chieg operating officer at Patrick Cudahy, which is ownexd by (NYSE: SFD), of Smithfield, Va. “I’n sure this is going to set us back.
” Otis said at a middahy press conference that the company was working to contacftits 1,800 employees, as well as various customers. Managemengt of Patrick Cudahy also has been in contact with Smithfielxd to determine if some meat processing operations couldf be temporarily shifted to otherSmithfield plants. The building affecteds by the fire is used for microwav e bacon processing and also is used for dry Otis said. The lower level of the building is used for ham he said. Not all areas of the Patricmk Cudahy complex have been affected by the Otis said. Only a small number of maintenance employees were at the planyt when the firebroke out.
Production at the plan t had been shut down since the end of the day on July 3 for theholida weekend. “It’s a miracle there were no injuries when you see the extentt ofthe fire,” Otis said. Production at the Patrick Cudahy complex was shut down for all three shiftsdon Monday. “We have no clue what this will mean for our saidDan Habighorst, vice presidenrt of human resources at Patrick Cudahy. “We’ve got to put the fire out The city of Cudahy issued a mandatory evacuation ordere for anyone residing within one mile of the plant at One Sweet Apple-Wood Lane.
The affected area stretched east toLake Drive, west to Pennsylvaniaz Avenue, north to Lunhak Avenue and south to Ramsey Avenue. McCued said late Monday afternooh that as manyas 15,000 of the city's 19,000 residents live within the evacuation zone. Evacuees were askeds to report directly to South MilwaukeeeHigh School, 801 15th Ave., South Milwaukee. Earlier, city officialx also had recommended that residents report to MitchellElementary School, 5950 S. Illinois Ave. in However, a late morning wind shift was leadintg to the evacuation of the neighborhoo aroundthe school. The evacuation ordefr was lifted at about7 p.m. Monday eveninvg and residents were allowed to return totheirt homes.
At issue was whether the blaze will breac h a fire wall and cause ammoni a stored on the site to explod e or leak intothe air, Cudahy fire chievf Dan Mayer said. The ammonia is used for refrigeratio atthe plant. Maye r said at the Monday afternoon press conference that hewas "cautiousl y optimistic" that most of the ammoniq had been contained within the although he added that a smallp amount likely leaked out. Mayer said the blaze, which was reported at about 9:45 p.m. Sunday, has been difficulty to fight because it beganm in a confined space near the roof of the building and abovs thesprinkler system.
At one point early on, Mayer it appeared as though firefighterss had the blazeunder control, but the sprinkler syste m and roof began to collapse. "Ther fire sprinklers weren't able to control the fire," he Adding to the challenge of fightiny the fire is the fact that the building ison old, woodebn structure. More than 130 firefighters from 27 area fire departments continuee to battle the blaze lateMonday afternoon. "We have a lot of sore and stiftf firefighters," Mayer said.
As of early Monday afternoon, no injuriew to firefighters had been Mayer said firefighters hadbeen "gaining on the fire" untilk winds shifted to the northwest afterr blowing to the southeast earlier in the day. The shiftr prevented the fire, for the time from spreading to other buildings at the PatrickmCudahy complex, Mayer said. However, the change in wind directiohn allowed the fire to sprea to another part of the building wherse the blaze is Firefighters have been unable to get waterd into part ofthe building, which has causedr the fire to continue to burn, he said. "This is a very old and largs building," Mayer said.
McCue had called on all residente and businesses in Cudahyand St. Franciz to curb their use of water while firefighters continuw to battle a blaze that repeatedl y flared up throughoutthe day. At about McCue considered requesting a National Guard presence in Cudahyto "secure the city' s streets" should the fire continues on into the night and force residents to remaibn away from their homes. But laterr in the day, he said he no longer anticipated that the National Guard would be In addition to the evacuation of residents inthe area, businessee within the evacuation area also have including the vast majority alongh Packard Avenue, McCue said.
The closures included the city's largest employers. In addition to the city'se largest single employer, Patrick Cudahy, the fire has forcexd the temporary closuresof , , and the Pick 'nb Save location on Packard Avenue south of the plant. The chain's Roundy's Supermarkets Inc. of said its Pick 'n Save store in St. on Whitnall Avenue, remained open and provided water tothe firefighters. Ladish Co. sent its firsty shift of workers home Monday and is askingits second-shift workers not to report to work. The forginvg operation has yet to decide whether tohave third-shiftf workers report to the plant, 5481 S. Packare Ave.
Patrick Cudahy posted on its Web , to provide more information for neighbors, employees and