About 100 firefighters battled a five-alarm fire at an automobile scrap yard in west Salt Lake City on Friday afternoon, which also ignited a grass fire, forcing a two-and-a-half hour closure of Interstate 80 as thick, dark smoke blew across the freeway.
Salt Lake City Fire Capt. Mark Bednarik said at about 3 p.m. that the scrap yard fire was about 90 percent contained and the grass fire was 40 percent contained. The fire was estimated to have affected at least half of a nine-acre scrap yard, located near 4400 West and 700 South, and the grass fire was estimated to have consumed between 15 and 20 acres.
The fire was caused by sparks from a worker cutting pallets, Bednarik said.
I-80 reopened at about 4 p.m.
The Utah Department of Transportation closed the freeway at about 1:30 p.m. in both directions in the area of 4200 West — from 5600 West to the interchange for Interstate-215.
Many drivers who were in the area at the time of the closure found themselves stuck in grid-lock traffic for more than two hours.
The fire, first reported just after noon, sent huge plumes of smoke into the sky as it burned buildings, pallets, vehicles, tires and other materials at Rio's Auto Recycling, a commercial storage yard at 4385 W. 700 South, fire officials said.
Two shop-type buildings at the site were ruled complete losses, Bednarik said. The roof of a building with cinderblock walls had caved in, and the other building, made of metal, was reportedly on the ground.
Fire officials originally believed hazardous materials were responsible for periodic explosions which sent balls of orange flames into the air that could be seen and heard at least five miles away in downtown Salt Lake City.
But the property owner told officials that the only hazardous materials he knew of were propane bottles for fork lifts and any residual flammables inside cars on site, Bednarik said.
The fire was started by a scrap yard worker, who had been cutting pallets earlier in the day, which produced small sparks, fire officials said. The man believed he had extinguished all the small fires from the sparks and went to lunch. But when he returned, he found an active fire that was too big for him to control, officials said.
Flames from the original blaze jumped 700 South, Salt Lake City Fire Department officials said shortly after 1 p.m., sparking a grass fire that headed toward — and eventually reached — I-80.
By about 1:20 p.m., winds reportedly spread the fire northwest of its origin. The grass fire had threatened a power substation and a Union Pacific rail line at about 4800 West and 700 South, officials said just before 1:40 p.m.
A power outage in the 84104 zip code area, which includes the area of the fire, left more than 2,100 Rocky Mountain Power customers without service until about 2:45 p.m. It was not immediately confirmed if the outage was caused by the blaze, which had been reported approaching power poles Friday afternoon.
At least one firefighter suffered minor injuries while fighting the blaze, fire officials confirmed.
Salt Lake International Airport spokeswoman Nancy Volmer said the smoke had not interrupted operations at the facility Friday afternoon. Passengers, however, were urged to check the status of their flight with their airline.
Source :http://www.sltrib.com/
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