BEAVER DAM, Wis. — Firefighters in Beaver Dam were on the scene of two separate factory fires on Friday morning — the first happened at Metalcraft of Mayville, and the second happened at the Kirsh Foundry facility less than two hours later.
Fire Chief Alan Mannel said employees were evacuated from both facilities and no injuries were reported.
The call for the Metalcraft fire came in before 10 a.m. Fire crews arrived to find heavy smoke in the production area, and the building had been evacuated. Firefighters found a fire in a metal dust collection unit in the factory and had to put it out with many fire extinguishers. Mannel said water is only used as a last resort on fires like this because it damages machinery.
The fire caused a temporary suspension in production.
Less than two hours later, Beaver Dam firefighters were called to a fire in the north side of the Kirsh Foundry. The manager reported there was an active fire and that hoses could not be used because it involved molten metal.
Fire crews arrived to find dark smoke coming from the furnace area, and they found a furnace had failed, spilling a large quantity of molten metal, which ignited combustible materials nearby. Firefighters applied small amounts of water to cool the area without causing the molten metal to explode.
