GALENA, Ill. - Area firefighters spent much of Tuesday afternoon at a foundry in Galena battling a fire that produced smoke seen for miles.
Just before 1 p.m., firefighters from Galena responded to Westwick Foundry on Meeker Street, and upon arrival, flames were shooting through the roof and black smoke billowed skyward.
Fire Chief Mike Simmons said the only injury was to a Scales Mound firefighter.
"It was the only injury, thank God," Simmons said. "It was a very minor knee injury."
Firefighters from Scales Mound, Menominee-Dunleith, East Dubuque, Elizabeth and Hanover joined the fight. Simmons said the fire started in a building that was more than 100 years old and had been added on to and compartmentalized many times through the years.
Simmons said the fire was under control in two to three hours, and most of the crews left the scene by 8 p.m. He said it might take weeks to determine a cause and estimate damage done to the foundry, which makes gray iron castings.
The foundry, established in 1854, had another major fire in the mid-1960s, Simmons said.
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