A column of black smoke visible the length of Davis County went up from a fire in the roof of a new junior high school under construction in Kaysville Thursday morning.
Kaysville Fire Chief Don Howard said a cutting torch used by a plumbing contractor ignited roofing material in the school's gym, touching off the fire just before 11 a.m.Units from Kaysville's volunteer fire department, along with two trucks from the Layton Fire Department, responded to the school site on Fairfield Road near Boynton Road in Mutton Hollow.
Howard said the fire looked spectacular because of 10-foot flames and the thick black smoke, but there were no injuries. Damage to the structure was limited to the roofing material.
No damage estimate has been made yet, and the fire chief said structural engineers will have to determine if the fire damaged trusses and support beams holding up the roof. No walls or other parts of the building were damaged, according to the chief.
According to a school district spokesman, the fire is not expected to hinder the construction schedule of the junior high, due to open for the fall term.