17 trucks destroyed in fire at Burlington concrete business

BURLINGTON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- More than a dozen emergency response crews were called to a four-alarm fire early Wednesday morning at a concrete manufacturing plant in Burlington. 

When crews arrived at Gleason Redi-Mix at 5:30 a.m. they found heavy smoke pouring out of the warehouse. Company officials say 17 Redi-Mix trucks that are stored in the warehouse were destroyed by the fire. Another building also had some damage. Firefighters were able to put out the fire completely around 9:30 Wednesday morning. 

Witnesses say they heard several explosions about an hour before the fire crews arrived on the scene, but firefighters say they haven't determined what caused the explosions. 

The vice president of Gleason Redi-Mix says it could have been from the diesel-hydraulic fluid or simply the sound of tires popping. 

"I was backing up and it sounded like explosions, like demolition work, but it was too many of them in a row and I'm like that's really odd. It shook the whole truck when they were going off," said Carlin Pillman who works near the scene of the fire. 

"It's disheartening. I mean having the other three locations, we're doing fine as a company, but nobody wants to see this whether it's a business or a home or anything. Nobody wants to see a fire anywhere," said Chad Ishman, Vice President of Gleason Redi-Mix. 

Because most of the damage was contained to the warehouse, employees will be back to work on Wednesday. Trucks from other locations were brought in so they could resume operations.