Fighting Fire with Appreciation--Spring/Summer 2011 Edition

As many of you will remember, back in 2009, the Patrick Cudahy plant in Cudahy, Wisconsin suffered the largest structure fire in Wisconsin's history. The blaze was caused by a military flare launched by two brothers celebrating Independence Day. The fire burned for days, and 64 fire departments assisted in quenching the flames. When the dust settled, millions of dollars of damage was caused, but thankfully no lives were lost and few injuries were incurred.

Along with Patrick Cudahy and John Morrell, we wanted to show our appreciation for the tremendous effort those firemen put forth to save the lives of our employees, and to save the facility from total destruction. On March 21, we gave the local fire department a donation of $50,000 as a token of the thanks we have for their stellar assistance during that fire.

Both Larry Pope from Smithfield and Bill Otis from Patrick Cudahy attended the event. "I would like to extend my thanks again to the Cudahy Fire Department and all of the other public safety personnel from around southeastern Wisconsin and neighboring states who responded so quickly and professionally to the fire at our plant," said Larry Pope, our President and CEO. "And I also want to thank the citizens of Cudahy, and our fellow business people, for all of their support during that difficult time," Pope added.

"We are truly indebted to the Cudahy firefighters and all of the other fine public servants from more than 64 fire and police departments who worked tirelessly to save a local tradition," said Bill Otis, president and chief operating officer of Patrick Cudahy. "Because of their expertise, bravery and hard work, no one was injured during the fire at our plant nearly two years ago. And we're so very grateful for that."

Cudahy Mayor Tony Day thanked us for our "longstanding commitment to the city. Patrick Cudahy has been providing good jobs for generations of our citizens, and the company has been a vital and active member of our community since it located here in 1892."