Fire broke out at Columbus Chemical Industries Monday night and caused the evacuation of nearby Columbus residents while firefighters battled the blaze.
Dodge County authorities used an emergency notification system to call other residents in the Columbus and Beaver Dam areas and tell them to stay inside and keep their windows closed because of smoke from the fire.
A series of explosions was reported along with the fire, which broke out shortly after 8 p.m. Monday.
No serious injuries were reported, although two firefighters were being checked at a local hospital.
An emergency shelter was set up at Columbus Senior Center. About 20 people, some in pajamas, were in line to check in at the shelter by around 10 p.m.
Jim Neuman, who lives a block from the plant, said he smelled burning plastic around 7:30 p.m. and soon heard four explosions. He said he heard more blasts after the first fire trucks arrived on the scene.
"The fire trucks had just arrived and then they had an explosion. There was some force there," he said.
Nearby resident John Edwards, a part-time worker at the plant, said it has a lot of flammable material.
Things seemed normal as he left work around 4 p.m., he said, but the explosions later "sounded like thunder, a long clap of thunder."
According to the company Web site, Columbus Chemical Industries manufactures high purity acids and salts, analytical and production solutions for the pharmaceutical, semi-conductor and electronics industries, among others. These can be terrible misery.
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