- Salt Lake City fire crews battled a three-alarm fire at a recycling facility.
- The fire produced thick black smoke visible from I-80 and Redwood Road.
SALT LAKE CITY — Fire crews battled a three-alarm structure fire at a recycling facility near 369 South and Orange Street on Tuesday.
Salt Lake Fire Capt. Chad Jepperson said around 3 p.m., crews arrived at the industrial area, where several warehouses are stationed, to find the building fully engulfed in flames.
"There was a lot of black smoke, as many of you have probably seen — It's knocked down considerably," he told reporters during a briefing later Tuesday afternoon.
At one point, a traffic camera operated by the Utah Department of Transportation captured a thick cloud of black smoke billowing over the area. The smoke could be seen from nearby I-80 and Redwood Road and from as far away as Davis County, according to Salt Lake Fire Capt. Chad Jepperson.
Jepperson said no one was injured and officials don't suspect anyone was inside the building at the time the fire broke out.
Crews were able to extinguish the fire inside the building, though smoke still lingered in the air.
"There is still a considerable amount of smoke that's going to continue until we get everything on the outside completely extinguished," Jepperson said
UDOT said the fire was affecting southbound Redwood Road, but that no lanes were blocked. However, Orange Street was temporarily closed as crews remained on scene. Fire officials have asked the public to avoid the area because of the heavy smoke.
"We've got a lot of people slowing down to look at the incident — that doesn't really help out anybody," Jepperson said. "If you can avoid the area, please avoid the area; there's no real reason to be over here and expose yourself to this stuff."
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
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