Huge clouds of black smoke poured from a fire at the former Caterpillar plant north of Davenport today. The blaze started at about seven this morning at what is now a lawn mower distribution center for John Deere. Twenty-six employees were evacuated from what’s now the River Cities Industrial Center. Davenport Fire Chief Mark Freese says they were making progress in knocking down the fire, then they ran low on water.Freese says they can’t truck in enough water to fight the fire, so they’re going to let it burn itself out. Freese says there was a sprinkler system in the building that’s on fire, but it must have been over-whelmed.The thick, black smoke could be seen as far away as Iowa City. Deere says the fire caused extensive damage to equipment being readied for shipment overseas. Deere says the fire won’t impact the equipment it has available for sale in the U-S this spring.
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