NEENAH, Wis. (WFRV)-A three-box alarm fire in Neenah sent fire crews from across the Fox Valley to the Neenah Foundry.  

“The first thing was the sirens and all the fire departments coming in and there was a bunch of black smoke on top of the foundry,” says Jacob Lucas who lives across from the foundry and says he saw the fire as it was burning.

Jacob was particularly worried about the fire since he has a personal connection to the foundry.

“My father used to work here and if this would have happened when he was there I would have felt terrible so I’m really feeling bad for the families that went through this traumatic experience,” says Lucas.

Firefighters told Local Five they received the call around 10 a.m. The fire started in the basement of the foundry and then worked its way up to other levels of the building.

The first thing firefighters did when they got on scene was making sure everybody was out of the building. Nobody was injured.

“It was coming out of three different doors on two different sides of this very large building,” says Neenah-Menasha Fire Rescue Fire Chief Kevin Kloehn.

Chief Kloehn says the fire was so hot in the basement, firefighters had to work on their bellies.

Several fire departments across the Fox Valley responded to the fire meaning firefighters could sub each other out for breaks throughout the day.

“The crews are doing a very good job; they’re working really hard to knock this thing down,” says Kloehn.

“It’s amazing how quickly they can respond to a situation like this,” says Lucas.

“We appreciate the support from firefighters, the police, and the community support,” says Vice President of Industrial Solutions for the Neenah Foundry Brad Rolfe.

Rolfe says the foundry will begin the restoration process as soon as it’s deemed safe to do so.

Firefighters are stilling investigating what caused the fire. All crews left the scene a little before 5 p.m.