Passing Train Possibly To Blame For 4-Alarm Fire In West Salt Lake
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Three businesses on Salt Lake City’s west side were damaged when fire broke out Saturday night, prompting four alarms.
Central Pallet, Western Metal and Applied Insulation all suffered damage when several pallets caught fire, possibly ignited by a brush fire. Semi trailers and a metal building also went up in flames. Propane tanks inside the metal building exploded sending projectile material into the air, according to fire officials.
It is not known for sure what sparked the fire, but fire authorities say a train might be to blame.
“This possibly could have been started by a train going by and sparking the grass,” said Salt Lake City Fire Captain Carleen Martinez.
This is not the first time crews have been called to the area. Two years ago, a passing train started a similar fire in the same place, said Martinez.
Approximately 100 firefighters fought the blaze because of the extreme heat.
“It’s really hot. There’s a lot of heat exhaustion so we’re making sure we replace the people often so we don’t have anyone go down with heat exhaustion,” said Martinez.
Thick black smoke was seen throughout the valley and even as far north as Weber County.
Early estimate of damage is $500,000.