A fire broke out Wednesday morning at a packaging plant in Maple Grove. Crews were dispatched just before 10 a.m. to the Smurfit WestRock facility at 8700 Valley Forge Lane, where they arrived to find heavy smoke showing from overhead doors, according to Maple Grove Fire Chief Maddison Zikmund. The blaze was partially controlled by a sprinkler system, and firefighters had it fully extinguished at 11 a.m., though crews remained at the scene until almost 12:30 p.m.
Employees had evacuated the building by the time firefighters arrived. No injuries were reported. Officials believe the fire started in a piece of heavy machinery designed to shred paper products.
Smurfit Westrock is one of the world’s biggest packaging manufacturers. The Dublin-based company closed a plant in St. Paul earlier this year, impacting nearly 200 employees.
