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Massive Rice Lake fire destroys four businesses, leaves owners wondering what next

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Published  October 18, 2024 5:46pm CDT
Fire
FOX 9

The Brief

    • A massive fire destroyed a century-old Rice Lake feed mill and the four businesses now running there.
    • The fire seems to have started outside, but gusting winds blew it inside and up into a shared second story space, where flames flashed and engulfed the entire building.
    • Business owners lost everything, but neighbors are trying to help replace items and started a GoFundMe to help with recovery.

RICE LAKE, Wisc. (FOX 9) - A massive fire swept through an old Rice Lake feed mill, destroying a pair of burgeoning businesses in the Wisconsin town.

Watching life's work burn

"It's tough," said Patrick Kelly, owners of Cheese Louise Sandwiches. "You know, broken dreams."

Kelly took a long look into the embers of what was once his life’s work Friday.

The shock of watching the century-old building burn the day before still had him stunned, but the images are forever locked in his memory.

"I was in the back doing my prep for the evening, and I smelled smoke," Kelly said. "At first I wasn't sure where I was coming from."

How the fire spread

Firefighters are investigating the cause, but they don't suspect arson.

They believe the fire started in an outside corner of the building and worked into the inside, then up into a shared second story space where it just spread all the way through the building, pretty much taking out an entire block.

"It only took a matter of seconds to get to the temperature point where the entire building is flashed," said Capt. Dave Putnam of the Rice Lake Fire Department. "And at that point, everything was burning within the building."

Massive firefighter response

About 50 firefighters from four agencies spent five hours containing the fire to the building as gusting winds tried to carry embers across the street.

Even pulling water from the nearby lake, they poured somewhere between 750,000 and a million gallons on the old feed mill that now housed four businesses, including Cheese Louise Sandwiches and Agonic Brewing.

What's next?

The owners invested years building these business and they’re not sure where to start to rebuild.

"It's devastating," said Jordanne Myszka-Schilling, of Agonic Brewing. "But everyone's working together and it's doesn't feel hopeless or hopeless."

Neighbors in the Rice Lake community are stepping up with offers to replace items that burned — like brew tanks and refrigerators.

And insurance will cover a lot of the costs.

How to help

But friends have also set up a GoFundMe to speed up recovery.