(ABC 6 News) — The Mason City Fire Department as of late Wednesday afternoon were still working to contain the final embers of a fire that erupted on Friday, January 17 at the Mason City Recycling Center, a private material recovery facility that manufactures cellulose from recycled cardboard and paper products.

According to a press release from MCFD, they responded to a call from a passerby, and upon arrival at the business located at 16615 245th Street, “fire crews encountered an active fire inside a large building. No individuals were present at the business when the incident occurred.”

Complicating the firefighting efforts were cold temperatures and strong North/Northwest winds, and bitterly cold winter weather.

“We had several trailers that were full of products as well that had already caught on fire,” said Chief Erik Bullinger. “The wind was just not working in our favor and it just kept traveling into those other structures.”

According to Mason City Recycling’s website, the primary facility to manufacture cellulose is 50,000 square feet.

The plant lies just outside of the city limits, and citywide recycling services through the City of Mason City are not impacted.

“The absence of nearby fire hydrants required water to be shuttled to the scene,” said Bullinger. Water was also provided by the neighboring Helena Ag Co-op.

Firefighters from the Rockwell, Nora Springs, Clear Lake, and Ventura Fire Departments assisted, as well as the Mason City Police Department, Cerro Gordo County Sheriff’s Office, Cerro Gordo County Emergency Management, Iowa State Patrol, and Alliant Energy.

“It was a tremendous effort on an evening that was very uncomfortable for everybody,” said Bullinger. “Everybody hung in there for the long haul, thankfully no one was injured and thanks to the neighboring departments and everyone in the community that helped us out.”

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.