Emergency responders safely evacuated a small handful of employees working when the fire broke out at about 4 a.m. Monday at the plant outside the port city of Brunswick, Georgia, said fire Capt. Eric Prosswimmer, who was on the scene with fire crews from Jacksonville, Florida, sent to help battle the flames.
The fire sent a large plume of thick smoke into the air from the plant, located located about 70 miles (113 kilometers) south of Savannah, ABC News reported.
As a precaution, local emergency officials ordered neighborhoods within a 1-mile (1.6 kilometer) radius of the plant to evacuate. People within a 3-mile (5-kilomter) radius were told to shelter in place.
Wayne Neal, chairman of Glynn County's elected Board of Commissioners, estimated roughly 100 households had been told to evacuate. Sheriff's deputies were using patrol cars to block entrances to affected neighborhoods.
MA/PR