Fire spare energy-producing digester at Lake Breeze Dairy in Town of Calumet

From an article in The Northwestern, Oshkosh:

TOWN OF CALUMET — Nine fire departments and quick-thinking owners helped avoid further tragedy Sunday night as fire destroyed a shed at one of Fond du Lac County's largest dairy farms.

The machine and equipment shed at Lake Breeze Dairy, W2651 Kiel Road, was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived at about 10 p.m. Sunday, according to the Fond du Lac County Sheriff's Department report.

Of immediate concern for firefighters were two engines that convert methane from a digester into electricity that were stored inside the shed, said Brian Gerrits, co-owner of Lake Breeze Dairy.

"I think we did a good job avoiding a catastrophe," Gerrits said. "The anaerobic digester has a lot of methane gas in it. The gas line is a large pipe about 12 inches in diameter that brings the methane into that building. When I was told the building was engulfed … I told (co-owner Mark Diederichs) to make sure every fire department knows what they are dealing with."

Gerrits said firefighters backed away from the shed after hearing about the digester until the gas was shut off.