The Cudahy Fire Department marked the five-year anniversary of the massive fire at the Patrick Cudahy plant that burned for days, reports fox6now.com.
The Cudahy Fire Department commemorated the anniversary by paying tribute to all who served that day.
“It feels like it was an eternity ago, but it also feels like it was just last week or yesterday all in one,” Cudahy Fire Chief Dan Mayer said.
Five years ago, 500 firefighters battled what would become the largest fire in Wisconsin’s history.
The fire started on the evening of July 5th. It was raging by the next morning — and burned for the next three days.
The fire caused $50 million worth of damage — and required the response of 63 departments, and 33 million gallons of water to put it out.
Surveillance footage led investigators to brothers Kurtis and Joshua Popp — who had fired a military flare as part of an Independence Day weekend celebration.
That flare landed on the Patrick Cudahy plant.
Chief Mayer was on the job for just three months when the blaze began.
“I could say that for many of the firefighters that were on the call those days, this was probably the biggest fire they will see in their career,” Chief Mayer said.
“It was a very difficult fire for us to get to. It was a very large fire,” Battalion Chief Jeff Bloor said.
