CUDAHY, WIS. — As of 6 p.m., July 7, local residents were being asked to continue conserving water as firefighters continued to bring the fire that began Sunday night at the Patrick Cudahy plant near Milwaukee under control. Firefighters had the fire contained and were closely monitoring two "hot spots" before declaring the fire as extinguished.

Company officials are optimistic some plant operations may resume and have begun assessing damages and determining which areas of the production complex may resume normal operations.

The cooked ham and sliced meats processing areas, as well as some of microwave bacon lines, were affected by the fire. However, the company’s offices, a portion of the meat processing plant and the facility’s power plant were saved.

Some employees have returned to work at the headquarters located adjacent to the manufacturing plant.