No one was injured in a large foundry fire in Batavia that took more that 15 fire departments and hours to extinguish. The blaze at the Master Cast Inc. foundry started late Wednesday evening.
Batavia Fire Chief Randy Deicke said flames were coming out of the windows of the first floor and heavy smoke was inside the building when crews arrived.
At one point, firefighters had to get into a defensive mode because of concerns that the building walls would collapse.
"We expect the building to collapse -- or at least one floor to collapse -- at some time," Diecke said.
Master Cast Foundry, located at 106 South Mallory Avenue in Batavia, makes aluminum castings, according to their website.
Fire officials were investigating the cause of the blaze as of 6:30 a.m.
According to the Batavia Historical Society, the building is nearly 100 years old. Another fire at the plant, on the morning of July 17, 1985, was Batavia's worst fire in 32 years, the company's website said.
