Wisconsin River Meats Rebuilding After Near Total Loss
MAUSTON (WKOW) -- A massive fire swept through Wisconsin River Meats in Mauston on Thursday, destroying part of the facility.
"By the time I got here, the building was engulfed in flames," co-owner David Mauer said. "We had some livestock that was in the building but we got those animals out. We ran in the office and we grabbed everything we could think of computers and files and we just were throwing it out the window."
It was a last-ditch effort by everyone to save what they could.
"It was just it was heartbreaking," said Denise Wee, a longtime employee of Wisconsin River Meats. "To reach in through the window and grab a picture off your bulletin board because that's all that's left and everything else is gone."
The charred remains were once offices, but despite part of the business being a total loss, the owners said this is the beginning for Wisconsin River Meats.
"We're operating our office out of our warehouse, but we've just got our phones and some internet back," said Mauer.
Just hours after losing almost everything, Mauer and his staff say priority number one is processing customer orders through the generosity of their competitors.
"Crescent Meats in Cadott, Wisconsin, is offering us his plants to do some of our own processing at so we have several team members up there now," said Wee.
Mauer said humor, community support and teamwork are helping with the rebuilding process.
"Do you know how many smoked meats jokes we got," laughed Mauer.
He said he's not ready to throw in the towel just yet.
"We're going to rebuild, for sure," Mauer said. "We're going to come back stronger than ever. It's going to take some time, though."
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.