Welder's torch sparks blaze at unfinished S.L. warehouse

A welder's torch was believed to have sparked a two-alarm fire at a vacant warehouse under construction on Salt Lake City's west side Tuesday.

About 11:20 a.m., several construction crews were working on a warehouse near 4250 West and 2100 South. Jake Ogden was on the main floor when he heard another worker making a commotion.

"He was yelling, 'Fire, fire! Get out of here,' " Ogden said.

Crews later found out that a welder was using a torch to cut a hole in the roof of the building, but the roof membrane, made of petroleum-based material, caught fire. When that ignites, Salt Lake fire spokesman Scott Freitag said, it burns "good and hot," like a tire.

"You could smell it, and then it was a freakin' fire," Ogden said, while noting how fast the fire spread,

"I (saw) the smoke, got the super, started looking for a fire extinguisher," added Shane Rasmussen, who, ironically, was installing a fire prevention indoor sprinkler system when the blaze started.

"It spread real fast," he said.

The burning roof created thick black smoke that blanketed the area to the north of the warehouse due to the steady winds of an approaching storm.

About 50 firefighters were called to help fight the blaze. They went into a defensive mode shortly after arriving, meaning they used ladder trucks to spray water from the outside only. Freitag said falling debris inside made it too dangerous for firefighters to enter.

Crews knocked down the fire about 30 minutes later.

The building was to be the home of Wasatch Supply & Barrel. A sign in front of the building noted that it was supposed to open in fall 2009.

Between 15 and 20 workers in the building were evacuated to safety. There were no damage estimates Tuesday afternoon, but Freitag said the dollar loss was expected to be high.

e-mail: preavy@desnews.com