Slinger Oak Creek Wood Products mulch fire, 1.7M gallons of water
TOWN OF POLK, Wis. - Almost 24 hours after a massive mulch fire flared up near Slinger, it was still burning Monday, May 22 in the Town of Polk at Oak Creek Wood Products.
By Monday night, firefighters had the flames contained but not extinguished, essentially planning to let this burn out with no people or other buildings in danger.
Mulch fire near Slinger
The fire broke out Sunday evening. Assistant Chief Brad Schaefer said the mulch fire spread to a pile of pallets and then to two of the business' buildings. All were wood products, and that made the fire spread quickly and intensely.
Mulch fire near Slinger
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Schaefer said the mulch pile remained Monday's challenge. Firefighters traveled to Slinger and Jackson for water with no hydrants in Polk. Schaefer estimated around 1.7 million gallons of water had been used in the firefight.
"We have an alleyway, or a moat, completely around the place where the smoke is the heaviest, and there's at least two feet of water that's all the way around it," he said "That two feet of water would extinguish fire that would grow past anything that would happen inside of that pile."
Mulch fire near Slinger
Oak Creek Wood Products' president responds
Oak Creek Wood Products President Pete Erickson said the loss was great, but with a little wind, this could have been a lot worse.
"Honestly, when I saw how fast it went, you get a pit in your stomach," said Erickson.
The flames burning between 40 and 50 feet high tore right through the company's mulch supply.
Erickson said the company repairs and resells pallets at the facility, turning anything that can't be used into mulch.
In the wake of the fire, with the facility itself on hold, Erickson said the damage could have been a lot worse.
"At the end of the day, it's the product we lost, and like I said, nobody is hurt," he said. "I think that's the biggest thing we're all grateful for."
Erickson said they plan to rebuild bigger and better, thankful to have insurance.
The company issued a statement Wednesday:
Concerned about the smoke?
Fire officials said Monday they expect the smoke to linger for at least two weeks and asked that people not call 911.
If you are in the area and wondering about all the smoke, Assistant Chief Schaefer had this to say.
"Majority of the products burned were all class A combustibles, wood products, pallets and the wood chips, so we do not expect any air quality issue to be concerned with that," Schaefer said.
Investigators do not know how the fire started but do not believe it was suspicious. Nobody was hurt.
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Mulch fire near Slinger