Dallastown, Pa. - A three-alarm fire caused about $1 million in damage to a business in Dallastown, York County late Sunday.

Fire officials say they arrived at Gerhardt USA, in the 400 block of Locust Street, at around 10:45 p.m. to find flames shooting through the roof. About 150 firefighters were sent to battle the flames. One witness said he could see the flames from a few miles away.

The fire was discovered in a room at the center of the plant by a man working the overnight shift. Gerhardt CEO Ian Bates said, "As he clocked in and entered the building he smelled smoke and as he got a little bit further into the building saw smoke and dialed 911."

A cause has not yet been determined. Tpr. Patrick McKenna, a state police fire marshal, said the flames melted large plastic tanks that had held chemicals such as hydrochloric and nitric acid, causing a potentially dangerous mixture.

"At this point, the investigation is at a standstill due to the hazardous materials which were involved in the fire," McKenna said. "The safety of the investigators is of the utmost importance and we want to make sure it's safe before we continue our investigation."

While officials waited for a clean up team to start vaccuuming out the mixture of chemicals, smoke started again. Officials say it was likely just smoke that was trapped from the early morning. They say there was no additional fire.

The chemicals were used in the manufacturing of metal. Gerhardt makes tools for a variety of converting and printing industries.

Gerhardt officials are waiting to check out the damage for themselves, but officials say it could be Tuesday until the chemical clean up is complete. "We haven't been able to assess what the full damage is," Bates said. "Looking at the structure if the building, the infrastructure looks good, there may be some rooms that need additional work done to them."

As for Gerhardt's production, Bates says the workload was passed to their other location in the United Kingdom. He also said he is prepared to send York County employees overseas to the UK to keep up with their work demand if this location is shut down for too long.

Police said cleanup crews in protective gear will remain on the scene through Tuesday. Officials said there is no danger to the surrounding community, but they are monitoring air quality in the area to be sure.

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