No one was injured when a three-alarm fire struck a recycling business in Columbia late Wednesday night, officials said.

Units were dispatched shortly after 10 p.m. to Gordon Waste Co., 125 Bridge St., for a fire in the conveyor system.

Four people working in the building evacuated safely without injury, Columbia Borough Fire Chief Douglas Kemmerly said.

"There was smoke everywhere when we arrived, on all sides of the building. It was coming through the roof and eaves. Some fire was visible at the back of the building."

Kemmerly immediately called for a second alarm and about 40 minutes later called for a third alarm to bring in more firefighters.

About 150 from Lancaster and York counties worked throughout the night, Kemmerly said.

The fire was in a large open room in the 50,000-square-foot building, he said. It did not spread into the part of the building where offices are located, though they might have smoke damage.

The fire started accidentally because of friction and was contained to an area of about 15,000 square feet, Kemmerly said.

"Workers were cleaning up the facility like they do every day, using Bobcat skid loaders, pushing scrap paper into the recycling compactor," he said. "Those bales are held together with wire ties. When the wire drags on the floor, sometimes they overheat or cause sparks."

The plant has had some very small fires that workers extinguished, Kemmerly said. This time, the fire spread some before they noticed it and grew too quickly for them to put out.

Workers did not immediately notice the fire because it started underneath a pile of paper, according to Wade Atkinson, vice president and a partner of Gordon Waste.

When it was discovered, they tried to knock it down with multiple fire extinguishers, but the blaze quickly grew beyond their control, he said.

"It was a deep-seated fire," Kemmerly said. "The heat and fire got in bales and smoldered there."

A sprinkler system kept the fire in check until firefighters arrived, he said.

"Sprinklers definitely saved that property," Kemmerly said.

After smoke cleared, firefighters dragged bales of paper outside the building, he said. When they broke each one apart, flames engulfed the bale and had to be extinguished.

About 70 bales of paper set to be recycled were lost in the fire, Atkinson said. The bales of used paper were not very valuable.

Firefighters brought the fire under control about 5:10 a.m. Thursday, and crews left the scene an hour later, Kemmerly said.

"The most important thing is that no one got hurt in the fire," Atkinson said.

As far as damages, the greatest concern is the extent that the fire damaged the main processing baler — what Atkinson called "the lifeblood of the plant."

He could not provide a fire damage estimate Thursday because he didn't yet know if the expensive baler had sustained minor or major damage.

"There doesn't appear to be any major structural damage to the building," Atkinson said. "We don't expect property and equipment damage to be severe."

A bunker conveyor in the plant was damaged, he added, but other conveyors and various skid loaders, forklifts and other equipment were saved.

Gordon Waste is a commercial and industrial paper-recycling firm that also handles baling wire and steel strapping products, Atkinson said.

It is too early to tell when the plant will be back up and running, he said. It could take days, depending on what it takes to fix the baler and if it requires replacement parts that might have to be shipped from overseas.

About 30 people work at the plant, and they "are always in fire-prevention mode because fire can happen in this industry," Atkinson said.

He spoke of a fire at Chambersburg Waste Paper, a similar recycled-paper processing plant, in 2005.

The $5 million fire destroyed the entire plant and offices in Chambersburg, according to newspaper reports.

The Columbia plant is Gordon Waste's main facility, Atkinson said.

The company also has a commercial paper plant in Alexandria, Va., and a plastics division in Hazleton.

rrobinson@lnpnews.com