Wenneman's Meat Processing Co. in St. Libory burnes to the ground
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[
One of Southern Illinois' famous landmarks, Wenneman's Meat Processing Co. in St. Libory burned to the ground early Thursday morning.
Firefighters remained at the scene all day Thursday following the outbreak of the 2:40 a.m. fire Thursday.
The plant was fully involved when firemen arrived. Second and third alarms were called in as soon as firemen saw what they were dealing with.
Twelve fire departments and 130 firefighters were eventually worked at the scene.. Water to fight the fire came from the village's water tower and a lake a half mile away.
Illinois IDOT crews had to be called to the scene to lay salt down on the parking lot of the company as the ice became more dangerous.
The operation is huge and employs about 40 people. Wenneman products are markets all across the region.
The State Fire Marshal is investigating, as is the insurance company, but it appeared the fire started in a shop compressor in the refrigeration system at the plant..
Firefighters worked alongside employees to get as many of the office records out of the scene as they could.
Wenneman's is owned by Brad Schmitz and Paul Otten.
It is at 7415 Illinois 15 in the middle of St. Libory.
The business has been family owned and operated for more than 80 years.
Dozens of Perry County deer hunters have taken their deer there for processing. markets and restaurants.
on 2/1/11 10:35 AM, Tribune Editor at tribuneeditor@frontier.com wrote: