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Global Cellulose Fibers officials are still internally assessing the extent of the damage from a structural fire earlier this week.

Jim Robbins, Lowndes County fire services coordinator, said volunteer firefighters with District 4 received the initial call at 7:30 p.m. Monday for a fire at the production facility on 4335 Carson Road.

Firefighters with District 5, Columbus Fire and Rescue, and Industrial Fire and Rescue assisted because the flames had spread widely across the exterior of the building, Robbins said.

“We got it cut off before it got inside the building,” Robbins said. “It was involving one of their outside structures, and we had a lot of heavy fire on that end. … I requested (CFR and IFR’s) mutual aid with their ladder (trucks). They came out, and they were a huge help to us.”

The flames took about four hours to put out, and no one was injured, Robbins said.

Kellum Hawk, communications and public affairs manager with Global Cellulose Fibers, said the flames primarily affected exterior equipment at the facility, though the company is still evaluating the value of the losses. It also is performing an internal investigation into the cause of the fire.

“We have an emergency response team that was able to provide an immediate response to the fire,” Hawk said. “From there, we were able to call in the outside resources that came on site to assist, and (we’re) very thankful there were no injuries.”

While she would not comment on how the fire has affected production, Hawk said none of the plant’s 370 employees’ jobs have been impacted.