By Joe Johnson
Personnel with the Athens-Clarke County Fire and Emergency Services Department on Friday battled an early morning fire inside the CertainTeed warehouse on Athena Drive.
According to the department, firefighting crews responded to a 1:30 a.m. report of a fire in the building.
On arrival, several stacks of insulation were in flames, which the department said were quickly extinguished.
CertainTeed is a manufacturer of construction materials such as insulation, ceiling tile and drywall.
After extinguishing the blaze, fire crews "began the tedious task of removing the smoldering piles of insulation by using forklifts to get the insulation to the open loading lot," according to a post on the department's Facebook page.
"They also utilized several water streams inside the building to keep hot spots in check. The process took several hours and eventually crews from the next shift swapped out personnel to complete the work," according to the social media post.
Assistant Fire Chief Mark Melvin said that no one was injured and the warehouse was not structurally damaged.
The cause of the fire remained unknown as of Friday evening, Melvin said, and the incident remained under investigation.