About 50 portable toilets used during the Days of `47 festivities were destroyed Sunday afternoon in a "suspicious" fire at Liberty Park.
Salt Lake Fire Battalion Chief Rennald Egbert said the mostly plastic, closetlike structures generated a lot of smoke, forcing firefighters to don breathing apparatus.The park was crowded with Sunday afternoon picnickers, but no evacuation was necessary, Egbert said. The toilets were in the center of the park near concession stands. A dozen firefighters extinguished the blaze within minutes. Egbert estimated the damage to be in excess of $25,000.
"We don't know the exact cause yet, but it was definitely a suspicious fire," Egbert said, adding that an arson investigation is under way.
The fire was reported shortly before 4 p.m. Firefighters patrolled the park overnight after responding just after 10 p.m. to a second fire in another portable toilet, said fire Lt. Dan Andrus.