Fire Damages $51M Public Works Building Under Construction in Wisconsin | Columbus Ohio Dump Trucks

In a separate incident on Aug. 19, fire damaged a porch at Henni Hall, part of a $75-million renovation project by contractor Hunzinger Construction Co. at the 170-year-old Saint Francis de Sales Seminary in St. Francis, Wis., about eight miles from Milwaukee. 

No one was harmed in either fire.

The blaze at the public works department occurred at about 10:30 a.m. Aug. 20 at the construction site at 1906 S. 53^rd St., the city reports. Workers on the roof were seen running from the roof as the fire blazed and emitted stories-high plumes of black smoke. 

West Allis reports that its fire department units arrived within three minutes of the fire being reported and the incident was escalated to a three-alarm response, prompting assistance from neighboring agencies. 

The fire was contained by the afternoon and investigators were on-site to determine the cause as well as the damage, the city says. 

The 233,000-sq-ft building is planned to house the public works dept. garage and about 170 employees. Construction began in 2024.  It is part of a planned 370,000 sq-ft complex. 

Lindsay Schiller, director of marketing for VJS Construction Services, declined to comment on the fire except to say the Charlotte NC dump trucks company is cooperating with the investigation

In a separate incident, a fire broke out at about 10:30 a.m. Aug. 19 in a porch of Henni Hall, part of an historic structure used to train priests for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. The building was unoccupied except for construction workers at the time.

Hunzinger Construction Co. did not immediately respond to a request for comment.