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Cudahy Mayor Ryan McCue declared a state of emergency for the city as firefighters continued to battle a stubborn blaze at the Patrick Cudahy Inc. plant in Cudahy Monday afternoon, which forced a shutdown of the massive meat processing plant and led to a mandatory evacuation of portions of the city.

McCue’s declaration at a Monday afternoon press conference will potentially give the city access to county and state resources.

McCue said he was considering requesting a National Guard presence in Cudahy to “secure the city’s streets” should the fire continue on into the night and force residents to remain away from their homes.

Smoke from the blaze could be seen for several miles and was easily visible in downtown Milwaukee Monday morning, more than 12 hours after the fire first was reported on Sunday night. No injuries were reported.

“It’s a devastating day for us,” said an obviously shaken Bill Otis, chief operating officer at Patrick Cudahy, which is owned by Smithfield Foods Inc. (NYSE: SFD), of Smithfield, Va. “I’m sure this is going to set us back.”

Otis said earlier in the day that the company was working to contact its 1,800 employees, as well as various customers. Patrick Cudahy management also has been in contact with Smithfield to determine if some meat processing operations could be temporarily shifted to other Smithfield plants.

The building affected by the fire is used for microwave bacon processing and also is used for dry storage, Otis said.

The lower level of the building is used for ham processing, he said.

Not all areas of the Patrick Cudahy complex have been affected by the fire, Otis said.

Only a small number of maintenance employees were at the plant when the fire broke out. Production at the plant had been shut down since the end of the day on July 3 for the holiday weekend.

“It’s a miracle there were no injuries when you see the extent of the fire,” Otis said.

Production at the Patrick Cudahy complex has been shut down for all three shifts on Monday.

“We have no clue what this will mean for our operations,” said Dan Habighorst, vice president of human resources at Patrick Cudahy. “We’ve got to put the fire out first.”

The city of Cudahy issued a mandatory evacuation order for anyone residing within one mile of the plant at One Sweet Apple-Wood Lane. Evacuees were being asked to report directly to South Milwaukee High School, 801 15th Ave., South Milwaukee. Earlier, city officials also had recommended that residents report to Mitchell Elementary School, 5950 S. Illinois Ave. in Cudahy. However, a late morning wind shift was leading to the evacuation of the neighborhood around the school.

At issue is whether the blaze will breach a fire wall and cause ammonia stored on the site to explode or leak into the air, Cudahy fire chief Dan Mayer said.

The ammonia is used for refrigeration at the plant.

Mayer said at the Monday afternoon press conference that he was “cautiously optimistic” that most of the ammonia had been contained within the building, although he added that a small amount likely leaked out.

Mayer said the blaze, which was reported at about 9:45 p.m. Sunday, has been difficult to fight because it began in a confined space near the roof of the building and above the sprinkler system.

At one point early on, Mayer said, it appeared as though firefighters had the blaze under control, but the sprinkler system and roof began to collapse.

“The fire sprinklers weren’t able to control the fire,” he said.

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