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Massive eight-alarm fire in Burlington now under control
Massive eight-alarm fire in Burlington now under control
BURLINGTON (WITI) -- A massive eight-alarm fire in Burlington late Wednesday evening, January 30th left 300 without work -- and Echo Lake Foods in Burlington shut down.
The fire began shortly after 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Firefighters were not able to bring the fire under control until mid-morning Thursday. Now, the investigation into this fire has begun.
A fireball of flames filled the night sky in Burlington on Wednesday night, as second shift workers ran to safety.
The fire burned about 20,000 square feet of the 70,000 square foot plant.
Over 300 firefighters from 88 departments in Wisconsin and Illinois battled this blaze.
"To bring in a lot of resources at that time, it was a defensive operation from the beginning. We weren't able to send anyone inside. We were not going to do an interior attack," a fire official said.
The company, which makes egg products and breakfast foods lost its production operation in the blaze.
"Echo Lake Food Products is one of the largest employees of the city. There will be an impact on the city obviously. We're talking 300 workers who are now without a job with no future employment on the horizon for them," Burlington Mayor Robert Miller said.
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Burlington fire under control
Burlington fire under control
Burlington's mayor vows to do everything he can to help the company rebuild.
Not far from the fire, community members at Fred's Burgers said they are feeling the impact.
"That's 300 lives that are being affected by this. It's going to be tough," a Burlington citizen said.
State and Racine officials plan to meet with workers on Wednesday, February 6th from 10:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. at the Veterans Terrace to help with unemployment forms and questions -- as a special task force of Racine County investigators get to work determining how this fire started.
Officials say the investigation could take awhile, and there has been no definite word whether the company will rebuild at this time, but there's a lot of hope they will in Burlington.
CLICK HERE for more coverage on the fire at Echo Lake Foods via FOX6Now.com.