Jefferson City firefighters extinguished a blaze inside a recycling facility on Tuesday night.
They were called to Federal Recycling, 3730 W. Main St., where fire started in a large industrial paper shredder and spread to adjacent material, said Jason Turner, interim fire chief.
Employees inside the building reported the blaze around 10:29 p.m. and the first fire truck was on the scene within three minutes, Turner said. No one was injured.
By the time firemen arrived, smoke had filled a large open-space area inside the building where recycling materials are processed, Turner reported. Firefighters quickly brought the situation under control, containing fire damage to the vicinity of the machine, but remained on the scene for more than an hour, cooling the equipment with water.
Nineteen firefighters responded, many on standby as a precaution because of the amount of combustible material inside the facility. An ambulance also stood by at the scene as a precaution.
Turner said the management of the facility had been working with the fire department on maintaining safety and emergency response protocols.