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The two-alarm fire began at the "Advanced Food" milk and cheese products factory at Ben Maddox and Noble.
Fire fighters say the blaze was so large inside they were unable to go in to the factory, as many as five different hoses were blasting water onto the fire trying to keep it from spreading to other parts of the factory.
Crews from Dinuba, Tulare County and city are out with the Visalia Fire Department. As many as 60 fire fighters were here at one point.
An eyewitness says he watched the fire from the beginning, he says he was about 100 feet away and could feel the heat from the flames. "The fire wasn't very big when we first got here, but it grew pretty fast," said Karl Schoettler. "There were some, I would say the flames were 40 feet high at some point."
Battalion Chief Charlie Norman said, "It appears that we have the fire confined to the northern part of the plant so we're working to take care of that at this point."
Fire crews are still trying to keep any damage contained to the north east side of the factory. There are some hazardous materials being stored on the southwest end of the factory that fire crews have spent much of their time protecting.
There's no word on what caused the fire. But it's believed to have started in a maintenance area. Fire officials say everyone inside the factory was evacuated safely. No other injuries have been reported.
