The Visy Paper plant, a subsidiary of Pratt Industries, was shut down when a large machine caught on fire early Sunday morning.

Firefighters responded to the call around 4 a.m. and arrived at 1800 Sarasota Parkway to find flames coming from the exhaust fans and vent stacks, according to Rockdale County Fire Division Deputy Chief Mike Lee. Firefighters were on the scene until about 1 p.m., The machine, which was in operation, the products in the machine and product residue were reportedly involved in the blaze, but the structure was reportedly not involved in the fire.

Employees were evacuated from the building. Nine employees were workng at the mill and five were outside in the waste paper yard outside at the time.

The fire was challenging partly because the machine was long and had nooks and crannies that were difficult to access, said Lee. "The machine is set there to do a job and the access to it is very limited, because they usually don't need access."

 An automatic sprinkler system did turn on, said Lee.

Six engines and a ladder truck responded to the scene, along with an additional ladder truck from DeKalb County. Units from Walton and Henry County provided backup coverage.

No one was injured in the fire or the extinguishing effort.

Update: The plant was back online early Tuesday morning, about 48 hours after the fire, according to Pratt Industries spokesperson Michael O'Reagan.