A bean dryer caught fire Monday afternoon in a livestock feed mill in Angelica, causing more than $1 million in damage and requiring the aid of 16 fire departments to put it out.
Temperatures reached in excess of 300 degrees Fahrenheit while crews rotated in and out to battle the blaze at Nutrition Service Co. livestock feed mill at W249 Deer Drive, according to Pulaski Fire Chief Randy Wichlacz. After getting the call at 1:30 p.m., it took more than 3 1/2 hours to get the fire under control, and the fire finally was out around 10 p.m., Wichlacz said.
“One of the biggest problems we had was the heat,” Wichlacz said. “We were changing people out every 10 minutes, and that’s why it took a lot of time (to put out the fire). We had a lot of guys, the heat just drained them so they couldn’t go back inside due to heat exhaustion.”
Firefighters from Shawano, Bonduel, Cecil and Navarino fire departments were among the crews helping the Pulaski Tri-County Fire Department control the blaze. No one was sent to the hospital, Wichlacz said.
The bean dryer was worth $500,000, he said, and surrounding structural and product damage brought the price tag to more than $1 million.
“When I got there, there was black smoke surrounding the whole building, so we knew we had something not good,” Wichlacz said.
Monday’s fire was also the first time Shawano County used the new Mutual Aid Box Alarm System beyond practice drills, Wichlacz said. Shawano County entered into the MABAS program in 2011.
It is the second time in a year the Tri-County Fire Department has been called to a fire at Nutrition Service Co. The first time was a minor fire, Wichlacz said.
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