Paul Crate/News Chief

The fire began burning toward the center of the warehouse, located at 5300 Recker Highway. It was leased by the Packaging Corp. of America plant, located at 2155 42nd St., N.W. On Tuesday, firefighters were concerned about the integrity of the structure, said Cindy Rodriguez, spokeswoman and communications director for Polk County.

David Cash, chief of the Polk County Fire Department said that throughout the night, firefighters poured water on the building.

The packaging building is home to a manufacturer that creates a type of treatment or coverage that goes on the outside of cardboard boxes, so it doesn't absorb when the boxes are shipped. The warehouse makes wax boxes for vegetables, poultry and fish.

The plant services customers throughout Florida and southern Georgia as well as the Caribbean Islands and Central America.

As of Tuesday evening, the fire was 95 percent out, but there are still some hot areas in the building, Cash said. But any time there is rain, it's beneficial because firefighters have been pouring water on the area since the fire began, said Jim Bell, the public safety director for Polk County.

About $20 million worth of inventory inside the building was damaged. And about $30 million to $40 million of stock was saved, and though the sheet metal roof did collapsed, firefighters were able to lift the roof off with a crane, Cash said.

According to Rodriguez, there was a concrete firewall that stopped the Saddle Creek Corporation from burning, which was to the north of the building.

Paul Crate/News Chief

Only two full-time employees were working at the warehouse. However, both had gone home prior to the fire. The employees were placed in other Florida facilities, said Larry Fairchild, general manager of the plant.

"It was a small warehouse," he said.

With headquarters in Lake Forest, Ill., the packaging plant was leasing the building for three years from CB Richard Ellis, a commercial real estate corporation based in California, Fairchild said.

maya.carpenter@newschief.com