An emergency was declared at a massive Department of Energy nuclear site in South Carolina after a laboratory fire left one employee with minor injuries, officials said.

The Savannah River Site (SRS) declared a Site Area Emergency at 5:39 p.m. Wednesday after a fire broke out at the Savannah River National Laboratory near Aiken, South Carolina, according to the Department of Energy (DOE).

The emergency was terminated at 9:45 p.m. after the fire was extinguished and radiological surveys found no detectable levels of contamination, according to an updated notice from SRS.

One employee was taken to a hospital with minor injuries, a DOE spokesperson told Fox News.

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"No radiological contamination has been reported," the spokesperson said.

All protective actions were lifted, and site barricades have reopened, officials said.

"There are currently no operational emergencies or scheduled delays for the Savannah River Site," an SRS notification update stated. 

Oncoming shift workers were instructed to report as usual, while all other employees were told to return to work as scheduled on Thursday, Oct. 29.

Shift workers who had been directed to shelter in place were also allowed to return to work as usual.

Highway 125 remained open following the incident and traffic at site entrances resumed after officials temporarily barricaded them as a precaution, according to SRS. 

SRS earlier announced restrictions on all rail, river and air traffic near the vicinity of the site.

SRS officials continued directing response efforts and notified the appropriate state and local government agencies.

Local residents were previously advised to monitor local radio and television stations for updates and any instructions from state officials.

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The SRS is a major installation in the nation’s weapons complex that has supported the U.S. military’s strategic deterrence mission for more than 75 years, according to the SRS website.

The installation manages nuclear materials and radioactive waste, with cleanup operations aimed at protecting the surrounding environment, according to the Department of Energy.

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"While serving as one of the nation’s most critical pieces in the weapons complex, the site is also one of the safest major industrial sites in the world. Ensuring national security, protecting workers, the public, and the environment, are our highest goals," the SRS website states. 

The facility was constructed in the 1950s, when five reactors were built to produce materials used in nuclear weapons, primarily tritium and plutonium-239. Several support facilities were also built, including two chemical separation plants.

• Natendrea Jones used Facebook Marketplace to market her seafood-catering business.
• A viral TikTok review in May brought her more than 300 orders overnight.
• Jones now runs Red's Garlic Seafood from her home kitchen and hopes to expand into a food truck.

When TikTok food reviewer Gabriel Rivera DMed Natendrea Jones about her seafood this spring, she assumed it was a prank.

"I thought somebody was playing a joke," Jones, 36, told Business Insider.

The South Carolina native had spent years trying to turn her cooking into a full-time business. She grew up surrounded by home cooking and began earning money young, first by preparing salads for neighbors and family cookouts, then by doing hair and nails.

Cooking remained a side hustle for more than a decade. Jones made seafood platters for friends and occasionally sold pans, but hair and nails paid the bills.

A viral food review brought 300 orders overnight

Jones had been posting her food on Facebook Marketplace for years. The platform didn't strike her as unusual: As a hairstylist and nail technician, she'd previously used Craigslist to find clients.

"I would always post on Facebook Marketplace because that was like my Craigslist," she said. "I was a Craigslist girl."

Meanwhile, Rivera had built a following of more than 2 million on TikTok by ordering food through Facebook Marketplace and reviewing it from his car. When he found Jones' listing, he offered her $200 to make him anything she wanted.

Jones prepared a pan overflowing with snow crab legs, lobster, shrimp, oysters, and fixings. It was not yet a menu item, she said, but it would soon become known as the "Gabriel Special."

When Rivera posted his glowing review in May — "her seasoning is on another level," he said between bites — Jones woke up to a flood of orders.

"I checked my Square. I had literally over 300 orders," she said. "I dropped my phone. I dropped to my knees."

Jones said she generated $50,000 in sales over the following two weeks and later surpassed six figures in sales. She used some of the money to buy supplies, such as new pots and pans.

Going viral created new problems

The sudden growth was exciting, but it was also difficult to manage. Jones enlisted help from family members early on, refunded some orders, and said some customers waited as long as a month for their food.

"There's no way I can do 100 orders in a day," she said. "This type of motion is new to me."

The pace eventually caught up with her. About three weeks after the review went live, Jones said she had to pause orders for a day to reset and catch up on sleep.

"The adrenaline was there, but I crashed," she said.

Since then, Jones has built more structure into the business. Customers order through her website, which adjusts pickup dates based on demand. She uses preorders to determine how much inventory she needs and now schedules pickup windows. On busy days, she said, her home-kitchen operation can handle 50 to 60 orders.

She still gets inquiries through Facebook Marketplace, but said most sales now come through Instagram and TikTok, where she has built sizable followings.

The business behind the seafood platter

Jones' best-selling platters are not cheap to produce. She buys seafood in bulk, along with fresh corn, potatoes, garlic, butter, edible flowers, packaging, and other ingredients. She estimates that she spends roughly $20,000 a month on supplies, though costs fluctuate based on order volume and seafood prices.

"People just say, 'More money, more problems,'" she said. "Sometimes I'll have moments where I don't see money at all — the money is gone, but it comes right back because that's a business."

Her signature sauce is central to the business, she said. Jones spent nearly eight years refining it and is protective of the recipe.

"My sauce is everything — because anybody can make a seafood boil, but how is your sauce?" she said. "I make my sauce from scratch and love and magic."

The business is named Red's Garlic Seafood after her late father, who was known as "Big Red." He was a chef who had hoped to open a family restaurant, Jones said.

Her next goal is a food truck, though she's taking her time to secure the vehicle, permits, and licenses needed to operate it.

"I want to do everything the smart way," she said.

Eventually, she hopes to open a brick-and-mortar restaurant. For now, she said she focuses on making each platter with the same care she brought to Rivera's order — the one that changed her business overnight.

"I make sure every pan has the flavors that it needs," she said. "I put the love and effort into the pan."