Crews are continuing to battle a blaze at 102 Revere Drive in Manitowoc.
We were able to speak with Fire Chief Todd Blaser who explained that they were called just after 3:15 this morning.
Police were first on the scene and reported seeing smoke and flames coming from the unoccupied building.
“Our first engine company was here in about 5 minutes, [and] confirmed exactly what police reported when they first got here,” he explained. “We went to a defensive fire mode…meaning no efforts were made [to enter] the building just because of the heavy fire volume that was present.”
Blaser told Seehafer News that they were sent out an alert to other fire departments in the area, including Kiel and Mishicot.
He does expect to be on the scene for quite some time, saying it will be “quite an extensive overhaul”.
Heavy smoke is still coming from the structure, some of which is enveloping some residential areas nearby.
Blaser said that there aren’t any environmental concerns so the smoke is not overly toxic, but if you have respiratory issues he suggested you “Shelter in place, meaning just stay inside your home. As the day moves on the smoke will dissipate a little bit more.”
Crews have been utilizing the Manitowoc River as their water source, which Blaser said has been a major help.
“The way this building is situated, we don’t have what we call 360-degree access to it,” he explained. “So really having the river on one side was an opportunity, with our mutual aid departments, we were able to draft right out of the river, and not necessarily tax our water system here.”
Blaser also praised the work of all of the fire crews on the scene, noting the early morning crews jumped right into action.
The Salvation Army arrived on the scene at around 7:30 this morning to help out the crews that were on the scene from the beginning.
