A fire at a Charles City pharmaceutical plant has sent six people to the hospital. The fire started at about one o’clock this morning in the drying department at the Cambrex Corporation plant.

Spokesman Joe Nettleton says one employee has been transported to the burn unit at University Hospitals in Iowa City, while five others have been treated for smoke inhalation and released. Nettleton says the fire started in a paddle dryer that’s used in a manufacture of a poultry feed additive.

The fire was located in an interior room and was quickly extinguished. The cause of the fire is under investigation.