A fire at a Quad/Graphics printing plant in Lomira, WI, killed one man and caused part of the building to collapse Saturday, according to wire service reports.
At the time of the fire, only three forklift operators were present in the part of the plant that burned, fire officials told The Associated Press, though there were 330 people in other areas of the 10-story building. A spokesman for the local fire department said it was “amazing” no one else was hurt.
The sole victim, Keith Freiberg, 22, was an employee of Aero Building Maintenance and did not work for Quad/Graphics. He was trapped in a vehicle located next to the plant during the blaze. The driver of the vehicle escaped.
The burned portion of the plant contained catalogs and magazines that were being prepared for binding, AP said. No damage estimate was immediately available.
Many of the plant's 1,800 workers returned to work the same day. Quad/Graphics plans to shift some production to other plants and possibly its competitors as well to ensure that its magazine customers — including Newsweek, Playboy and U.S. News & World Report — deliver on time.
The plant had recently begun production of Christmas catalogs for its clients.
