GAINESVILLE - Firefighters descended on a Candler Highway plastics business Wednesday evening to work a fire related to a bale of scrap plastic inside the building.
According to Hall County Fire Chief David Kimbrell, the workers were able to evacuate safely, and no one was hurt.
Kimbrell said workers using a concrete saw on the floor of the approximately 100,000-square foot building reported the fire around 6:15 p.m.
"The initial call that we got in to 9-1-1 was from the workers. They stated that using the concrete saw they had created some sparks that had ignited a bale of plastic material. So far that looks like exactly what happened," he said.
Kimbrell said a working sprinkler system helped extinguish the blaze: "Luckily the sprinkler system inside the building held it at bay; we were able to get hoses inside then and knock it completely down."
Due to the possibility of re-ignition, Kimbrell said crews would remove any materials that continued to pose a threat.
"It's smoldering. Those bales of plastic are just like bales of hay, so we're having to use heavy equipment now to move the bales outside just to make sure it's completely out," he said.
Kimbrell said that the extent of the damaged was not yet known: "I'm not sure what the value of the material is. Several of the bales of material around there [are] damaged beyond use."
He added that there is also a possibility the building suffered electrical damage during the fire.
The facility in the 1400 block of Candler Highway is home to Nemo Plastics, Inc., a business specializing in post-consumer/industrial plastic materials.
