Fire damages and temporarily closes a Big Bend scrap metal company

Jim Riccioli, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
·2 min read
Fire trucks from numerous departments line up along the road outside Kral Scrap Metal in Big Bend, which was heavily damaged in a blaze on Sunday, July 10. Firefighters said the main building was fully engulfed by flames at one point.
Fire trucks from numerous departments line up along the road outside Kral Scrap Metal in Big Bend, which was heavily damaged in a blaze on Sunday, July 10. Firefighters said the main building was fully engulfed by flames at one point.

BIG BEND - A Sunday night fire at the main building of Kral Scrap Metal set off explosions from propane tanks and forced the business to shut down for several days.

No one was in the building at the time of the fire, which was reported at 8:25 p.m. and resulted in assistance from nearly two dozen fire department and law enforcement agencies from the region. Despite the severity of the fire, no one was injured.

Exactly what ignited the fire isn't yet known. "State fire investigators will be on scene investigating the cause of the fire," the Big Bend Fire Department said on its Facebook page Monday morning.

But it was apparent from the onset that the blaze was significant.

"Upon (our) arrival, fire had already broke through the roof and the building became fully involved," the department said in its Facebook post. "Some propane tanks did evacuate within the building causing area residents to hear loud booms from the fire."

That prompted a call for assistance, drawing in fire departments from Waukesha, Racine and Walworth counties. They included the town of Brookfield, town of Burlington, Elm Grove, Franklin, Kettle Moraine, Mukwonago, New Berlin, North Prairie Canteen, Raymond, Rochester, Tess Corners, Tichigan, Troy Center, Vernon, city and village of Waukesha, village of Waterford, Western Lakes and Wind Lake.

Big Bend Police, Muskego Police and the Waukesha County Sheriff's Department were also on the scene.

Kral, W224 S8575 Industrial Drive, near the center of Big Bend along its main industrial park, serves as the village's main source for metal recycling. It's a 60-year-old family business owned by Mike and Michelle Kral.

The Kral family was not immediately available to comment. But on the company's Facebook page, they acknowledged both the emergency and people's support after the fact.

"Sadly our business suffered a devastating fire last night to our main building," they said in their Facebook post. "The thoughtful comments from our customers and the community were/are uplifting during a difficult time. We are working on getting back to business as usual to serve our customers.

The business, which had been closed the previous week for the Fourth of July holiday, anticipated again opening its doors to walk-in customers starting Wednesday.

Contact Jim Riccioli at (262) 446-6635 or james.riccioli@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @jariccioli.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Big Bend's Kral Scrap Metal damaged in weekend fire