BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (From The Bakersfield Californian) -- About 500 bales of cardboard caught fire at a downtown WestRock facility on Sunday afternoon, leaving massive clouds of smoke hovering over the area.

Bakersfield firefighters were on site to contain the fire at WestRock Recycling, said Trever Martinusen, Bakersfield Fire Department battalion chief. Firefighters were called to the center at 2 p.m. The fire in the tightly packed cardboard was proving difficult to extinguish, he said, but it was mostly contained as of 3:50 p.m.

No one was injured in the fire, Martinusen said, and the fire did not spread to any other recyclable materials in the center.

Smoke could be seen from miles away, the worst of it settled in the neighboring Weill Park. The Kern County Fire Department assisted, and Bakersfield Police officers helped set a perimeter as people downtown stopped to check out the smoke themselves. One car with three people inside slowly pulled up next to one officer outside controlling traffic and offered him a bottle of water and a Gatorade.

Firefighters are currently investigating the cause of the fire.