NEWTON, Wis. (WFRV) – Multiple fire departments responded to a large fire near a factory in Newton. Individuals watching them work say they were shocked to see the flames.  

“I was coming out visiting a friend helping her with some stuff and saw that there was a bunch of smoke, I could see it from Sheboygan and I came out here and the place was just lit up,” stated John Timmer. 

Timmer doesn’t even live in Manitowoc County, but he says he could see it from more than ten miles away, and knew something big was burning.  

“I have a few friends that work here I talked to them right during the fire, so I was here, looked at them and everything and talked to them so,” stated Timmer.

Local fire officials say at least 30 fire departments responded to a call around 1 p.m. relating to a large fire near B&B Metals Processing in Newton. 

“The workers here are working on moving the scrap from the pile to a lower portion of the yard where we can extinguish it,” said Clifford Henning, assistant fire chief of Cleveland Fire Department.  

Authorities believe friction between piles of metal near the factory caused the fire.  

“Source of the fire is a scrap pile that is outside of the yard, so it is contained to the scrap pile itself, there are no structures on fire at this time,” said Henning.  

First responders say it took hours to control the fire, and they expect to spend even more time ending it.

“I would believe that we will be here several more hours, it’s a pretty deep-seated fire. It’s a tall pile,” explained Henning. 

We will keep you updated on the fire as more information becomes available.