The cause of a fire that damaged a foundry Wednesday night at Kohler Co. remains under investigation.

The fire was reported shortly before 11:30 p.m. inside a cast iron foundry on the company’s campus near Highland Drive, according to the Kohler Fire Department.

The fire started near a piece of equipment used to melt metal and spread to the roof of the building, firefighter John Ewert said Friday.

Employees were safely evacuated from the building. No injuries were reported.

“We’re very fortunate that everyone got to go home safe,” Ewert said.

The fire wasn't extinguished until shortly after 6:30 a.m. Thursday. Firefighters used a dry chemical to extinguish flames in certain areas of the building to avoid exposing liquid metal to water, Ewert said.

"It's a careful process," he said. "They wanted to make sure to keep the fire contained and controlled."

Multiple fire departments came to the scene to provide additional manpower and equipment.

The damage caused by the fire and the time frame for reopening the facility still were being assessed by Kohler Co. staff on Friday.

"All Kohler associates who work at the foundry will remain employed by the company and continue to receive full compensation throughout the period that the facility remains shut down," the company said in a statement. "All other Kohler facilities remain fully operational."

Source: sheboyganpress.com