Remembering the 'Butter Fire' 35 Years Later
postedIt was during a shift change at 2:30 PM on Friday, May 3, 1991, when employees of Central Storage Warehouse on Cottage Grove Road discussed mechanical problems with a battery-powered forklift.
The forklift operator changed the batteries in an attempt to fix the lift, but the machine still wouldn't operate. They set aside the repairs for the moment and proceeded to load semi trailers with butter using a different forklift.
About an hour later, that same operator heard a sound "similar to a torch being lit, only much louder." He saw blue flames coming off the floor around the cab area of the forklift he'd just attempted to repair.
So began what would become known as "The Butter Fire."
First Madison Fire Department units were dispatched at 3:32 PM. Within 10 minutes, multiple 911 callers were reporting a huge fire with 300-foot flames and a wall blown out of the warehouse. A second alarm was declared at 3:35 PM, but that still would not be enough to manage the fast-growing blaze fueled by butter, lard, and other food products.
By 6:00 PM, the fire spread from Building 1 to Building 2, and a third-alarm was raised. Firefighters were ordered off the roof of Building 3 due to the potential for Building 2 collapsing into it. Building 2 did collapse around 11:00 PM. All fire personnel were accounted for within seconds of the collapse.
Other Dane County fire departments provided mutual aid to Madison Fire on scene, assisting with defensive fire attacks overnight. They also staffed Madison fire stations and responded to other routine emergencies still occurring around the city.
Around midnight, the Central Storage fire began to threaten the facility's anhydrous ammonia tanks, prompting a half-mile evacuation of approximately 3,000 residents. Central Storage personnel worked to remove as many hazardous materials from the site as they could.
Fire reached the mechanical refrigeration equipment corridor around 1:30 AM Saturday, May 4, but the fire was stopped about an hour later thanks to an aggressive fire attack and flowing sprinkler heads.
A fire this size presents a multitude of challenges for responding firefighters, but in this case, efforts were severely impaired by melted butter, cheese, and lard.
The heat of the fire turned millions of pounds of butter into flowing liquid. Holding hand lines, climbing ladders, climbing stairs, and even walking became dangerous. In some locations, the greasy solids were waist deep.
The cold water being applied to the molten dairy products turned the liquid back into a solid. Melted butter oozed from every building opening, filled the street, overflowed nearby ditches and gutters, and threatened local waterways.
City of Madison Engineering and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources developed retention basins and dams to attempt to minimize how much of the substances would reach a nearby creek and several city lakes.
It wasn't until 10:00 AM Sunday, May 5, that the fire was declared under control. But the effects of the fire would linger far longer.
A putrid smell haunted the neighborhood for months. The grease from this fire also saturated firefighters' turnout gear, breathing apparatuses, gloves, fire trucks, and virtually every piece of equipment used to fight the fire.
The job of cleaning and repairing all the equipment was novel, and outside experts were consulted to determine whether the gear and equipment were even safe to use anymore.
Test results determined the gear was safe, but the cleaning was reported to have caused "some shrinking and unsatisfactory fitting."
In the days that followed, fire investigators were able to confirm the fire was accidental. The area of the fire's origin was, in fact, in and around the battery-propelled forklift that had been causing trouble just a few days earlier.
The fire ultimately destroyed two freezer warehouses and severely damaged the mechanical refrigeration equipment corridor. The contents of both warehouses were a total loss. Central Storage Warehouse and businesses with product stored there suffered business interruption and losses. Twelve firefighters suffered injuries during this incident.
With initial property damage estimated at $7.5 million, content loss at $70 million, and $1 million in cleanup costs, there's no argument this dairy fire in the Dairy State was the largest and most difficult the Madison Fire Department has ever confronted.
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Step Inside the Scene
View never-before-seen photos, recently released from our investigative files, below.
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A view between Freezers 5 and 7 (looking south)
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The melted butter, lard, and cheese formed a sludge that forced the closure of Cottage Grove Road and other nearby roadways.
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A view of rig placement on Cottage Grove Road, where melted food products formed a sludge that coated MFD rigs, gear, and equipment
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Examples of the forklifts and batteries used at Central Storage Warehouse in 1991
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The battery of Forklift 3, pictured here, was reported to be malfunctioning moments before the fire.
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Another view of Forklift 3 amid the rubble from the fire
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Workers examine the contents of the Battery Charging Room at Central Storage Warehouse.
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This content is free for use with credit to the City of Madison Fire Department.