Read the full article on KETV 7
35 years ago, millions of pounds of butter made a warehouse fire worse
A massive warehouse fire in Wisconsin left firefighters standing in a foot of melted butter and cheese.
This Madison food warehouse was crumbling from *** fire fed by butter and cheese oil, *** fire apparently touched off when *** forklift battery exploded yesterday afternoon. Flames here at Central Storage and Warehouse on Madison’s eastern edge were visible from various parts of the city. I left work from downtown Madison at 5 o’clock and saw just *** big ball of flames and smoke in the air. And it looked like maybe *** plane crashed or something. About 3000 people near the fire were evacuated yesterday because of hazardous materials in warehouses next to the blaze. Those people were back in their homes today, but this afternoon firefighters still had *** mess on their hands and more. This firefighter finding *** small pond of butter, mud, and water. All that butter was causing its share of problems, but it has very much complicated things, and you can see where the, the firemen and the hose lines and everything are covered with up to 1 ft of, um, you know, butter and. It also left streets around the complex coated with butter. City workers were using sand to try cutting through it. Some of our crew members have been here since 2:30, 3 o’clock last night, and we expect to be here most of the day, most of the weekend from what I understand. The Department of Natural Resources was also involved in the clean up, putting booms in nearby drainage ditches, hoping to keep the butter and cheese run. Out of Madison’s lakes, the grease is raising about 1 inch every hour down there where they got it diked off. Madison residents say they’ve never seen anything like this, and even on this 2nd day, the fire was still sending huge plumes of smoke into the air. One man said it must be much like the oil fires still burning in Kuwait, and it was still leaving firefighters in something of *** food fight. Jerry Grayson, Channel 12 News, Madison.
Advertisement
35 years ago, millions of pounds of butter made a warehouse fire worse
A massive warehouse fire in Wisconsin left firefighters standing in a foot of melted butter and cheese.
In 1991, a warehouse fire in Madison, Wisconsin, turned into something firefighters had never seen before. Inside the building were millions of pounds of stored butter and cheese.When the fire broke out, the heat burned through the structure and melted everything inside.Melted butter and cheese flowed through the building and into the streets. It created a thick, greasy mess that made fighting the fire even more difficult.It burned for eight days.Now, 35 years later, watch the video to see how a fire fueled by butter actually unfolded.
In 1991, a warehouse fire in Madison, Wisconsin, turned into something firefighters had never seen before. Inside the building were millions of pounds of stored butter and cheese.
When the fire broke out, the heat burned through the structure and melted everything inside.
Advertisement
Melted butter and cheese flowed through the building and into the streets. It created a thick, greasy mess that made fighting the fire even more difficult.
It burned for eight days.
Now, 35 years later, watch the video to see how a fire fueled by butter actually unfolded.



