Hundreds of employees of a business in Meriden were evacuated after a fire on Wednesday.

Firefighters who were driving by the Meriden Enterprise Center on the way to another call around 10:10 a.m. reported what they believed was a furnace malfunction in the basement of the business, fire officials said.

After an investigation, firefighters said they found a working fire in a dust collection system in the basement. The dust collection system spread through the vents of the building.

The fire is under control, however, there was significant smoke, authorities added. A working sprinkler system contained the fire to one room.

Three hundred employees of the business were evacuated, fire officials said.

A nearby church was also evacuated because of the fire.

The Twitter account for Episcopal Church in Connecticut in Meriden says all church staff who were there are safe and evacuated.

No additional information was immediately available.