UPDATED 6:20 p.m. Thursday: For over five hours Fond du Lac Fire/Rescue hazardous materials crews worked to mitigate a chemical leak at Milk Specialties in Fond du Lac, according to Fire Chief Peter O'Leary.
In conjunction with personnel from Milk Specialties FDLFR crews were able to safely bring this incident to an end, O'Leary said in a press release at 6:20 p.m.
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Fond du Lac Fire/Rescue (FDLFR) said crews are on the scene of a hazmat incident at Milk Specialties, located at 325 Tompkins St.
At 11:38 a.m., FDLFR said it responded to a report of a gas plume emitting a yellowish cloud into the atmosphere from Milk Specialties. NBC 26 reporter Ben Bokun said later in the afternoon that the cloud had changed to a whitish color.
Although the exact concentration and type of gas are not known FDLFR said it’s believed to contain chlorine.
Fire crews evacuated around 100 employees from the building. No one was hurt.
Fond du Lac Fire/Rescue says hazmat crews have made several entries into the building and continue to work on mitigation efforts. Crews are filling a tank inside the building with water to try and find the leak.
The neighborhood near the facility was also being evacuated. There currently is no timetable for when residents will return or when the leak will stop.
Fond du Lac County Communications & Emergency Management says due to the ongoing situation at Milk Specialties, the outdoor warning sirens will not be activated as part of the statewide tornado drill that was planned for Thursday evening.
FDLFR asked the public to avoid this area and railway traffic has been suspended.
Per Fond du Lac Fire, freight trains are backed up all the way down to New Orleans due to the active chemical leak at Milk Specialties.
— Ben Bokun (@ben_bokun) April 7, 2022
