At least two people were injured in an apartment fire in South Salt Lake, and a two-alarm fire broke out in a Salt Lake cardboard box factory early Wednesday.
Jay Dyksman, 265 E. Burton Apt. 4, said he was asleep when fire broke out in his apartment at about 9:15 a.m. He said his wife, Sharon, suffered smoke inhalation and his cousin, Lynette Smith, suffered burns on her hand when they tried to put out the fire, which seemed to have started in couch cushions in the living room.Smith's husband, Mike Cook, also suffered burns on his feet. The couple's six-month-old baby, Shawn, was taken along with his parents and Sharon Dyksman to University Hospital.
The official cause of the fire and an estimate of damage were still under investigation later Wednesday morning, said South Salt Lake Fire Chief Robert Adams. Some of the occupants of the apartment building may have been injured while carrying Christmas presents out of the burning apartment.
In Salt Lake City, firefighters tackled a blaze at the Packaging Corp. of America plant, 460 W. 500 South. Four fire engines, two ladder trucks, seven other vehicles and 35 firefighters responded to the fire, said Salt Lake fire battalion assistant Dennis McKone.
Flames seemed confined to the roof, particularly a silo on the roof where scrap cardboard is stored. "The silo and shredder were completely involved," McKone said at the scene. "No injuries - everybody got out of the building safe."
Scott Palmer, an employee of the company, said scrap from machines that make cardboard boxes is sucked into the silo. "We have tons of scrap. There's plenty of bales sent off every day."
Fires don't happen often, he said. "This is the first time we've had to evacuate in the three years I've been here . . . I've heard from a few people that flames were seen up there (on the roof) at 2:30 this morning." But that is just hearsay, he added.
Employees reported for work at 6 a.m., the alarm was given at 8:30 a.m., and the building was evacuated soon afterward, Palmer said.