A fire ignited Saturday at a Salem company that makes railroad ties, causing $250,000 in damage but resulting in no injuries.

The blaze happened at the Koppers Co. on Koppers Road, inside a small building holding electronics and mechanical equipment. Employees inside the structure tried battling the blaze with a fire hydrant before evacuating the building, said Charlie King, battalion chief with the Roanoke County Fire and Rescue Department.

About 35 firefighters from Fort Lewis, Mason Cove and Cave Spring spent three hours on scene after being called to the fire shortly before 11:30 a.m.

The cause of the blaze came from built-up sawdust in the fan motor of a hydraulic pump that overheated, ignited and spread to the decking of the building, said Jennifer Conley Sexton, Roanoke County fire and rescue spokeswoman.

--Erinn Hutkin and Ruth Tisdale