The 'butter fire' was the biggest blaze ever faced by Madison Fire

The 'butter fire' was the biggest blaze ever faced by Madison Fire

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STATE JOURNAL 17 hrs ago

The Butter Fire at Central Storage & Warehouse in Madison burned for days,
thanks in part to 10 million pounds of butter.

Madison Fire Department

It was the biggest blaze the Madison Fire Department has handled to date, and there were plenty of bizarre details.

Thirty-five years ago on May 3, 1991, firefighters responded to Central Storage & Warehouse Co. on Cottage Grove Road.

An unmanned forklift inexplicably started. Flammable liquid sprayed from hydraulic lines onto warehouse contents, which included lard, cheese and 10 million pounds of butter being stored by the federal government.

A Madison Fire Department pumper truck works while mired in several inches of melted butter and cheese, which also flowed into storm sewers and threatened to pollute Lake Monona after the May 1991 fire at CSW. The fire department’s website still describes the blaze, which began May 3 and wasn’t officially declared out until May 11, as “without argument the largest and most difficult fire MFD has ever fought.” DAVID SANDELL — The Capital Times archives




The fire burned for days.