MUNCY – A fire broke out at 6:20 p.m. on Tuesday, February 27 at Keystone Filler and Manufacturing Company on Railroad Street, just outside of Muncy.

Flames and smoke poured from a 40 foot high dust collection system and was visible from Water Street several blocks away, said Bradley Nichols, assistant fire chief for the Muncy Area Volunteer Fire Co. Firefighters stretched out about 500 feet of hose to a hydrant just off the property that supplied water to battle the fire, he said. Crews were successful in preventing the fire from spreading to a large building, just three feet away.

Although the bulk of the fire was knocked down in about 20 minutes, “hot embers still flared up” for more than an hour, Nichols said.

“The fire was fully contained to the collection system, which was nice,” company owner David Pfleegor said. The company which creates carbon products for the steel industry, has two other dust collection systems on the property. Damage could be as high as $100,000.