![Photo via U.S. Navy Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class James E. Foehl [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons](https://i2.wp.com/timesofsandiego-launch.newspackstaging.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/fire-640x360.jpg?ssl=1)
A box containing medical supplies being sterilized with a laser caught fire on a jammed conveyor belt Thursday at a Miramar-area manufacturing plant.
Products manufactured at Synergy Health at 9020 Activity Road are boxed and sterilized by passing under a laser beam prior to being shipped. But, the conveyor belt that transports the boxes jammed around 5:30 a.m. and the laser hit the same box repeatedly until it caught fire, according to San Diego Fire- Rescue Department spokesman Lee Swanson.
Swanson said about a dozen employees were inside when the fire started, but got out on their own after hearing the fire alarm.
Crews contained the fire to plant’s sterilization vault and extinguished it in about 15 minutes. However, smoke spread throughout the majority of the warehouse area and firefighters spent an additional 90 minutes airing it out, Swanson said.
The fire caused about $25,000 in damage, according to Swanson.
—City News Service