Smoke Forces Evacuation of Spice Plant

Smoke from an electrical fire forced the evacuation of Elite Spice, a spice and seasoning plant, on Montevideo Road Friday afternoon, according to officials.

"It was very smoky in the building," said Elite Spice manager George Meyer, who told Elkridge Patch that a machine caught fire.

Approximately 150 employees were working at the time, said Meyer. They evacuated the building, and "we called the fire department as a precaution," he said.

Fire officials arrived soon after 1 p.m., according to the department.

"One of the spice mills caught fire, but the sprinkler extinguished the fire before our arrival," said Jackie Cutler, spokeswoman for Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services.

No injuries were reported.

Police directed traffic on the 7100 block of Montevideo Road around firetrucks as crews from Anne Arundel, Baltimore and Howard County worked to ensure the building was safe.

"Firefighters maintained a presence on-scene in order to help ventilate smoke from the building and to ensure that the mill did not re-ignite," said Cutler.

As of 2:30  p.m., crews had cleared scene.

Savage-Guilford Patch editor Brian Hooks contributed to this article, which was updated at 3:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. to include information from fire officials.