- A fire at Ace Intermountain Recycling, causing one person to be treated for smoke inhalation.
- Over 45 firefighters battled the blaze near I-215 on Thursday.
SALT LAKE CITY — One person was injured after a large fire broke out at a recycling facility in Salt Lake City's west side on Thursday.
About 1:45 p.m., firefighters responded to a report of a fire at Ace Intermountain Recycling Center in Glendale, 1240 S. Wallace Road, near I-215 and California Avenue. Firefighters arrived to find the fire burning in the ceiling of the building, said Salt Lake City Fire Capt. Chad Jepperson.
One person was treated for smoke inhalation at the scene. The individual was not a firefighter, but Jepperson wasn't sure if the person was an employee of the recycling center or not. Power was cut to the building, and Wallace Road is closed in the area for the time being.
Over 45 firefighters were still at the scene Thursday afternoon, a larger response to address concerns over the potential for spread during a hot, dry day, he added. The fire appeared to be dying down an hour into the battle, but he said crews were still working to put it out.
Large amounts of smoke could be seen billowing up near the freeway. Ace Intermountain Recycling primarily focuses on paper recycling, and mostly white smoke appears to indicate that is what was burning, according to the Salt Lake City Fire Department.
Most of it has been white, which indicates that paper or other natural products caught on fire rather than plastics and oil-based products that are typically darker, Jepperson explained.
"This smoke is still dangerous. You don't want to breathe a campfire, stick your face into a campfire and breathe that smoke. Similarly, this," he said. "You don't know everything in this smoke, as well."
It differs from another recycling facility that Salt Lake City firefighters dealt with earlier this year. A fire broke out in an exterior storage area of the METech Recycling near 369 S. Orange Street in May, which resulted in a massive firefighting response and massive plumes of black smoke.
The cause of Thursday's fire is unknown and will be investigated after the fire is out.
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