CROSSETT, ARKANSAS - Fire broke out Thursday morning at the Georgia-Pacific plant here, where about 3,000 people are employed. <br>
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There were no early reports of injuries in the blaze. Firefighters were using air tankers to help put out the fire at a tissue mill, one of several mills at the complex. <br>
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Crossett Assistant Police Chief Ronald Rickman said the fire started in a mill building at about 7:15 a.m. ``It's a big fire,'' he said. <br>
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Rickman said at midmorning Thursday that emergency crews responding to the fire were about ``to get it under control.'' He made his assessment from police radio reports. <br>
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Ashley County Sheriff James Robinson said he could still see smoke from 10, but that it seemed to be diminishing. <br>
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``From where I am it looks like the smoke has just almost gone away,'' Robinson said several hours after the fire began. <br>
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Rickman said fire departments from the surrounding communities of Frost Prairie, Milo and Hamburg were helping fight the blaze. Firefighters from El Dorado and Bastrop, La., also were reportedly helping. <br>
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Rickman said he didn't know the cause of the fire. Early reports were the fire was in a firewall and broke through a roof. <br>
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Georgia-Pacific spokesman Steve Church at the company's Atlanta headquarters said he had no details on the fire. <br>
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Don McBride of the Arkansas Forestry Commission said the agency received a call from 911 operators, requesting air assistance at the mill fire. He said three planes were sent. <br>
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``We have launched an air attack plane to go over there and look at it,'' McBride said. Two air tanker planes, each holding 500 gallons of liquid, also were sent. <br>
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McBride said two more tanker planes were on standby status at Camden. <br>
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``Everything's kind of preliminary right now,'' McBride said. <br>
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Crossett is located in south Arkansas, nine miles from the Louisiana state line.
