NEW BERLIN, Wis. — The DNR is investigating any impacts a fire may have on the environment after an early morning fire at Lincoln Industries on 166th Street near Cleveland Avenue in New Berlin.
The fire broke out just after 3 a.m., according to authorities on the scene.
"They had, what appeared to be, a failure of some sort of mechanical device," said Assistant Fire Chief Ross Gscheidmeier.
Two employees were inside the building when the fire started, according to Kassy Knudson, VP of People Resources for Lincoln Industries. She said both employees were able to evacuate and fire officials confirm nobody was hurt.
Flames shot through the roof as a thick, black plume of smoke filled the air for several hours. Firefighters from 10 different departments responded.
"It was a very difficult fire. It is sort of difficult to move around in this building," according to Gscheidmeier.
Now, there is concern over potentially hazardous chemicals that were spilled during the fire.
"This company does chrome plating and different metal plating procedures so they have a lot of chemicals, tens of thousands of gallons of hazardous chemicals in here," said Gscheidmeier, who told TMJ4 that the DNR is on the scene investigating.
Several other businesses in the area were evacuated out of an abundance of caution.
Lincoln Industries remains closed for the time being, and damage to the building was described as "significant."
