Residents allowed back inside homes following massive fire in Burlington

BURLINGTON (WITI) -- A massive eight-alarm fire destroyed much of the production area of the Echo Lake Foods plant in Burlington -- and left 300 without work. Others in the area were evacuated from their homes Wednesday night, January 30th as 88 departments from Wisconsin and Illinois battled this blaze.

Residents were evacuated as firefighters fought this fire due to the threat of an ammonia leak. They were allowed back inside their homes on Thursday.

Bill Plewa lives on Honey Lake Road, and rushed home on Wednesday evening to find Echo Lake Foods -- right across the street from his house, on fire. 

"It wasn`t grey smoke. It was solid black rolls, like you see in movies, how they make black clouds roll in. That`s what it looked like, blowing that way.  You could see the red speckles in it, so it was creepy looking," Plewa said.

Kristi Kollman lives behind the factory with her mother, grandmother and eight pets. Kollman says convincing her grandmother to leave was the hardest thing she's ever done.

"She was basically kicking and screaming, not wanting to go because she's on oxygen and can't really walk by herself," Kollman said.

Kollman says her mother and grandmother were put up by the Red Cross at a hotel. Kollman took some of her pets and stayed with a friend, but had to leave others behind.

"I was terrified. I thought I was going to come home to my animals dead," Kollman said.

The Burlington Fire Chief says residents were evacuated because of a concern the fire would reach ammonia tanks, but fortunately, it did not.

"The tank was the only thing I was worried about. If the tank blew up, it would have been bad. That little tree line isn`t going to stop shrapnel," Burlington's Fire Chief said.

The investigation into this fire is ongoing.

CLICK HERE for more coverage on the fire at Echo Lake Foods via FOX6Now.com.