Crews battle machine shed fire near St. Nazianz

MANITOWOC COUNTY - The investigation continues into a fire that closed off a portion of Highway 151 in rural Manitowoc County Tuesday afternoon.

Fire crews were called to a machine shed fire on 151 and Greendale Road west of Valders.

For more than four hours, smoke billowed out from a patch of trees surrounding property along the highway.

Crews from three fire departments battled the blaze.

Those living nearby called in the fire to authorities.

"I looked up and it was a white smoke cloud and it started to turn black," said Neighbor Bernie Starzewski, who was one of many who called in the fire. "There were some small explosions like pop and punk, and things like that.  We're about a half mile away, so they weren't small."

Officials say those pops were chemical and gasoline tanks exploding inside the building.

Luckily, the explosions happened before firefighters reached the scene.

"The driveway was not plowed from the previous snow storms so we couldn't get in, and we had to get Manitowoc County in with their graters to plow, before we could bring our trucks in, which probably was a good thing because nobody got hurt," said St. Nazianz Fire Chief Fritz Koeppen.

Authorities say an older gentleman lived on the property and was not home at the time of the fire.

They believe he did machine repair work.

The shed is considered a total loss. Officials say the house on the property was not damaged in the fire.

At this point, they do not know the cause of the blaze.

No injuries were reported.