A destructive structure fire was avoided early Saturday morning due to a business’s water suppression system. At 8:11 a.m., North Davis Fire District responded to a fire alarm at trailer manufacturer, Utility Trailer, in Clearfield, located at 1111 S. 1000 West. When crews arrived, water and smoke were coming from the east side of the building, according to a press release from North Davis Fire District.
About 500 employees working at the time, had already been evacuated and set up outside at meeting points designated by Utility Trailer. Firefighters found a 40-foot trailer had been destroyed by the blaze. The release states the sprinkler system in the building kept the flames from expanding.
There was damage to two trailers: one by fire and the other by water from the sprinkler system, according to the release. The cost of damage was estimated at $50,000. “If not for the water suppression system working, this business could have been devastated and could possibly experienced loss of life,” the release states.
The fire started about 3:30 p.m. in the parking lot at 879 S. Gladiola St. (3400 West), catching a semitrailer on fire and then jumping to the building, according to Salt Lake Fire Capt. Mark Bednarik. The fire reached one business, a leather and furniture company, while sprinkler systems in the building kept it from reaching other businesses.
As many as 70 firefighters were on the scene Sunday afternoon, Bednarik reported, extinguishing the fire in the warehouse by about 5:15 p.m. Had it spread deeper into the warehouse, crews would have faced “a very different fire,” he said.
“The potential is very high (for damage),” the captain said. “They use a lot of foams and a lot of synthetic materials, and once that ignites, there are very toxic fumes and very hot fires that are difficult to extinguish.” The fire caused at least $150,000 in damage to the business, Bednarik said, with the total expected to climb as water damage to the furniture business’ inventory is assessed.
“One of the business owners made the comment that if the water soaks up into that foam, they could be throwing away $50,000 to $60,000 in product,” Bednarik said. “That’s probably what they’re going to be facing over the next week or so.” With the warehouse fire extinguished, crews turned their focus to the flames that had burned nearly an acre of vegetation and destroyed other items in the yard, including pallets, trash bins and other machinery.
Firefighters remained on scene Sunday evening to manage a number of lingering burning and hot spots. “Once you get those plastics burning, they burn hot and they burn deep through that pile,” Bednarik said. “(Firefighters) are using a front loader from the city to break it apart and open it up.”
Crews were also forced to deal with explosions coming from propane tanks and other items inside the building as they battled the blaze. The cause of the initial fire is unknown, though Bednarik said the fire does not appear to be suspicious. Crews closed roads for about a half a block around the building as they fought the fire.
Agencies from around Southern Utah responded to a structure fire at SKF Manufacturing on Center Street in LaVerkin Saturday. Firefighters were paged out to the fire at about 1:30 p.m., Hurricane Valley Fire Chief Tom Kuhlmann said. The building has a sprinkler system in place, which came on during the fire, and firefighters backed up the sprinklers with hoses to control the blaze.
Dawn McDowell, SKF Manufacturing’s operations manager, had been alerted about the fire by an alarm company and arrived at the scene about the same time the firefighters did. She was able to unlock the building, which had been closed down for the weekend, so the firefighters didn’t have to force entry.
When responders got to the building, there was smoke pouring out of the windows, and they had to send a team in to track down the location of the actual fire. The team ended up finding the fire had originated in the area of one of the processing machines in the back corner of the building, Kuhlmann said.
The responders had the fire controlled by 2:30 p.m. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, Kuhlmann said, and the extent of the damage is not yet known as this report is published. There were no people in the building at the time the fire started, so no injuries resulted from the incident. The fire was contained to the inside of the building. McDowell said that in the 24 years she has worked at SKF, there have been no other fires there. SKF’s factory in LaVerkin manufactures hydraulic seals, she said.
Fires at two fraternity houses at University of Utah are being investigated as arson, Salt Lake City Fire officials said Friday morning. At about 4:13 a.m., fire crews arrived on scene at the Pi Kappa Alpha house, 1431 E. 100 South, to find a fire on the third floor.
Firefighters extinguished the blaze and kept it contained to one area of the house, which caused damage in the game room, according to a press release from SLC Fire. Just 18 minutes later, SLC Fire crews responded to the Beta Theta Pi house, 70 S. Wolcott St., on a report of a fire in the basement laundry room.
When firefighters arrived, they found the sprinkler system had kept the small fire under control, the release indicated. Crews then quickly extinguished the remaining flames. Officials say the fires are likely connected. Both fires are currently under investigation. No injuries were reported at either incident.
Reporting on lives and property saved by fire sprinklers
