(WSBT) The fire started just after 10 p.m. Thursday at VIM Recycling. Emergency crews found one worker dead inside and another was seriously injured. The plant is just across the St. Joseph County line in Elkhart County on old U.S. 33.

Crews have worked around the clock trying to get a handle on this fire. Even crop dusting planes were brought in to drop water on the burning plant. That helped stop the fire from spreading to nearby homes.

The fire is not out, but it's contained. However, hot spots continue to flair up at different parts of the facility.

Around 10 p.m. Thursday night, multiple explosions were heard at the plant. Emergency crews found one man dead, one worker seriously injured and one worker that had made it out unharmed.

Several fire departments battled the flames. At 11:50, a call when out over St. Joseph County police scanners for all available firefighters to help battle the blaze.

Investigators believe the fire started at the north side of the facility, and they suspect a dust explosion set the blaze off. However, they also said it will likely be days before the actual cause is known. Investigators are waiting until it's fully under control to better determine a cause.

Later in the morning, four crop dusting planes worked in shifts to drop water on the flames shooting high into the sky.

Some of the firefighters have been on scene since the fire began late Thursday night, and will be some time until they can go home.

A spokesperson for the Elkhart County Emergency Management Agency said in a news conference there were no toxic materials released because there weren’t any in the plant.

The EMA did say there is carbon monoxide in the air from the smoke, and people who live in the area and have breathing problems or asthma should stay indoors with their windows shut. If anyone does start to have trouble breathing, they should call 911.

The smoke went from white to brown to black to brown to white again. That cycle repeated throughout the day as firefighters tried their best to eliminate the smoke entirely. But with so much wood and mulch and as fuel it's a constant struggle.

"We started out with water, we tried to go to the foam and we didn’t get as good of a response with the foam as we did with water so we are back to using water 100 percent," Jennifer Tobey with Elkhart County Emergency Management.

Firefighters are using heavy equipment to try and move the dirt and mulch to get a handle on the fire. They say it's difficult because the fire keeps traveling through the piles and sparking up again.

Investigators believe it started in the northern portion of the facility. Three workers were inside at the time when multiple explosions set the building and the piles of mulch a flame.

One worker escaped one was seriously burned and one worker was killed.

"I think it's absolutely horrible because of the fatality,” Tobey said. “Yes, at this point, it's a working fire and we're trying to control the fire. But to think that it took a life, it's devastating."

People from miles around the facility felt the explosion they came out to watch as the night sky was eliminated by the flames.

"It's so dry and there's trees there, if they caught the whole neighborhood would go," said Michael Fitch, who lives near the plant.

As Friday evening approached, firefighters expected to be on scene for at least another 24 hours.