DON BEHM Journal Sentinel staff
Published: October 8, 1996
A three-alarm fire that might have been triggered by lightning at a metal plating plant forced officials Monday to close a portion of the freeway system and the downtown campus of Milwaukee Area Technical College. But firefighters who battled the blaze at Artistic Plating Co., at 428 W. Vliet St., said the company’s emergency plan guided fire-control actions and helped prevent injuries. The plan also persuaded officials to shut down parts of two freeways and other area streets.
Artistic Plating’s plan alerted officials to the potential release of deadly hydrogen cyanide gas, said Fire Lt. John Gregory, assistant director of the city’s hazardous material team.
As winds blew smoke from the fire south to Wisconsin Ave., officials closed Highway 145 and a portion of I-43, between the Marquette Interchange and Locust St., beginning at 5 a.m. The entire freeway system reopened by 7:15 a.m.
City streets in a 10-block radius from the plant also were briefly closed, and pedestrians were asked to remain indoors to prevent possible exposure to poisonous fumes, officials said. The plume of smoke from the fire also prompted MATC to cancel day and evening classes at its downtown campus.
During the blaze, officials tested air quality in the area to determine whether gases were being released. None was detected, they said.
“First, firefighters arrived with masks on, and all units stayed upwind on the north side of the building,” Gregory said. “The company’s emergency response plan was extremely helpful to us.”
The plan, filed with the Fire Department and the Milwaukee County Division of Emergency Government, identifies the volume and type of all chemicals stored inside the facility.
The company, founded in 1947, specializes in plating bathroom fixtures and other consumer products with gold and silver. Among the chemicals it stores in the building are sodium cyanide and potassium cyanide.
Precautions taken by firefighters prevented tanks filled with sulfuric acid and other chemicals from overflowing. A reaction between the acid and the cyanide compounds could have created a cloud of highly flammable hydrogen cyanide. Exposure to that chemical could make breathing difficult and cause a person to lose consciousness.
Sulfuric acid, when heated, also emits highly toxic fumes.
The first alarm came at 3:47 a.m., said Deputy Chief Daniel Gengler. A second alarm was made at 4:14 a.m., and the final alarm sounded at 4:54 a.m. The fire was under control by 8:17 a.m.
Workers had been scheduled to begin a shift at 6 a.m.
The fire likely started on the first floor of the plant and spread to the roof, Gengler said. A cause had not been determined, and police were continuing to investigate, he said, adding that no damage estimate was available.
The company’s attorney, Don Gallo of the Michael Best & Friedrich law firm, said the fire might have been started by lightning striking a transformer on the building during an early morning thunderstorm.
“This is the type of fire that could have burned for two or three days,” Gallo said. “But it was out in a few hours. It is a good example of how an emergency response works when there is enough information.”
Artistic Plating’s office at 405 W. Cherry St. and a second plating plant at 1433 N. 4th St. are on the same block, north of Highway 145.
