Intense Spanish Fork fire destroys string of businesses

An early morning fire of undetermined origin destroyed a string of businesses contained in one building on the city's north end Saturday.

There wasn't much Spanish Fork firefighters could do to stop the intense blaze at 200 E. 1600 North that consumed a cabinet shop, a pattern shop, an auto repair shop and an auto body shop. The roof caved in just after firefighters arrived on the scene about 3 a.m."We assume it had been burning for a while," said Spanish Fork Assistant Fire Chief Errol Smith. "It was really, really, really hot."

A fire crew of 18 spent about eight hours at the scene battling flames and mopping up. The blaze also charred three cars, a truck and a trailer. Firefighters were called back to the building early Saturday afternoon when a piece of the collapsed, smoldering roof flared up.

Smith said the cause of the fire is under investigation. The state fire marshal's office was called in to sift through the building's remains and make a determination. Smith estimated damage to the businesses in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

"It was one of the worst ones we've had in a couple or three years," he said. "It's just one of those things that happens that you hate to see happen."