Firefighters rescued four live cows and removed live ammunition from the building before smoke forced them out. The carcasses of 52 bison and 20 cows were left hanging inside to be torched by the flames.
Employees of the plant - which slaughters beef cattle, elk and bison - watched in disbelief as their workplace burned.
``We're all going to be at the unemployment office. This is bad,'' said 19-year-old Chad Lycan minutes after fleeing from the spreading smoke inside Northwest Foods Inc. ``You could see it up in the rafters and we knew something was going on, but we didn't think it was that big.''
A dangerous goods team was also called to the scene. Two large ammonia tanks inside the building, estimated to hold 2,000 to 3,000 litres each, were later determined to pose little danger.
Blowing smoke prompted temporary evacuations of a hotel and an automotive shop north of the blaze.
The haze also affected commuters. Officials shut down a transit station and bus terminal west of the fire and rounded up about 20 city buses to carry the load.
Fire officials would not speculate on the cause of the blaze.
But Aerial Lt. Jim Ness said the initial crew noted the flames were inside a false ceiling over the kill floor, which eventually collapsed.
