Grim's Grub: Too much of a good thing can be bad
What's at the center of this 1991 disaster? You won't believe what it is! In 1991, a large storage facility in Madison, Wisconsin, caught fire, causing it to spread to a nearby factory and cause $7.5 million in property damage, $70 million in loss of merchandise, and $1 million in firefighting costs. The fire was contained 24 hours in time and was extinguished eight days later. The aftermath was equally as bad as the fire itself, with the contents of the building threatening to wash into the storm sewers and nearby bodies of water. The building contained 10-15 million pounds of surplus butter, along with Ocean Spray cranberries, millions of hot dogs, sausages, bakery products, hams, and even a deadly tank of 1,000 pounds of anhydrous ammonia. The resulting smell was reportedly hazardous to the health of people and animals in the area for years.
ที่ตีพิมพ์ : 10 เดือนที่แล้ว โดย Travis G. Grimler ใน Lifestyle
In 1991, an area of Madison, Wisconsin, was in trouble.
A large storage facility was on fire and the ground was too slick for emergency vehicles.
The building was equipped with fire-suppression equipment, including sprinklers, but they were as effective as a toddler with a squirt gun in the face of the conflagration that followed.
At about two and a half hours, the fire spread to a nearby factory. At five hours, the building collapsed and its flammable contents were loosed into the streets.
Fire trucks that arrived on scene first got too close; worse yet, once they entered the fire grounds they could not leave.
Ladder trucks and water trucks stood, stranded, on the slickened ground where they struggled to keep pumping water as the fire raged uncontrolled. At times they risked running out of fuel, which would have left them without water.
Fuel trucks tried to intervene, but the ground was, again, too slick. So people carried 5-gallon gas cans on foot to the trucks to keep the fight going.
At the 24-hour mark, the fire was contained. Eight days later, it was finally, completely extinguished.
Though costs were great, there were no injuries, but the aftermath was almost as bad as the fire itself.
The contents of the building threatened to wash into the storm sewers and nearby bodies of water. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Agency scrambled in the aftermath to keep the loose merchandise from contaminating utilities and natural areas.
The smell was legendarily bad, as well as hazardous to the health of people and animals in the area. Those who continued to live and work in the area reported smelling a sickening, burning, rotting smell for years after.
The fire caused $7.5 million in property damage, $70 million in loss of merchandise and $1 million in firefighting costs. Cleanup was $550,000. It was ruled to have been originated near a battery-powered forklift.
It's hard to imagine that the streets in Madison were so slick that a fire truck could not drive on them, and it's especially surprising considering the fire started in May, long after ice and snow had melted.
Then again, emergency vehicles are designed to drive on ice. What they are not designed to navigate is butter, and that's a big problem with 2- to 3-foot deep pools in some areas.
The building was a government storage facility used to stockpile for price control. In 1991, dairy producers had a good year, and prices threatened to drop due to an abundance of butter and cheese on the market.
The government purchased surplus dairy products to stabilize the market, only for opportunistic farmers to take that as an invitation to produce even more, since the government was buying.
What resulted was a 330 million pound dairy surplus stored in government stockpiles. In this one Madison facility, 10-15 million pounds of surplus butter were in storage alongside Ocean Spray cranberries, millions of hot dogs, sausages, bakery products, hams and even a deadly tank of 1,000 pounds of anhydrous ammonia.
These items flooded the streets after the collapse of the building, causing firefighters to fight against a hot wave of butter. That same butter later threatened local sewers and bodies of water the same way that a crude oil spill might have.
For once it's possible to say you can't believe it is butter, but sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.
Sift together the flour, cream of tartar, salt and baking soda, then cut in the butter. Beat the eggs and then add the sugar and vanilla, beating to a creamy consistency. Combine the two mixtures and refrigerate for one hour.
Roll out the dough on a floured board and cut it into shapes. Bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes
Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a skillet over medium heat. Sautee the onion. After it begins to get glossy, add garlic and cook slowly until they carmelize to a dark brown.
On the side, combine the cream, tomato sauce, remaining butter, salt, cayenne and masala in a saucepan over medium heat, and bring to a simmer.
Reduce the heat to medium low, then cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes. Stir in the onion and garlic mixture and continue simmering.
Toss the chicken in vegetable oil until coated, then season it with tandoori masala and spread the chicken out on a baking sheet. Bake the chicken in the preheated oven until it is no longer pink, about 12 minutes. Add the chicken to the sauce and simmer for another 5 minutes.