Random Lake firefighters battle fire at the Lakeside Foods canning factory

RANDOM LAKE -- Firefighters battled a fire at the Lakeside Foods canning factory in Random Lake on Friday morning, June 17th. The fire brought a massive response in the small community.

The Sheboygan County Emergency Dispatch Center first got notified about the fire just after 10:30 a.m. Several people reported a fire on the roof of the building.

The Random Lake Fire Chief could see the heavy black smoke from the fire station just down the street as the call for help came in.

"First arrival found high flames shooting from the roof area. There was a construction crew doing some welding up there, from I was told on the scene," said Random Lake Fire Chief Pat Depies.

Fire alarms went off and 30-40 workers got out safely. Some say the plant was getting ready to go into full production for the season starting Sunday, freezing vegetables for sale. Now, they fear that will be delayed.

Random Lake fire crews were able to extinguish down the fire quickly but damage inside the plant is being looked at. The heat was a factor as firefighters worked.

"We were rotating people out frequently because of the heat," said Chief Depies.

The call brought in firefighters from 12 different community, and 100 firefighters -- all volunteer. They came together and all worked to quickly put the fire out.

There were no injuries.