SOUTH SALT LAKE — A three-alarm blaze at a recycling plant burned through layers of trash and sent a plume of darkened smoke 200 feet above the valley Wednesday afternoon.
The fire has been determined an accident, although investigators have not found the specific cause. Damage was estimated at $200,000. There was damage to trucks and trailers, and recyclable garbage was lost, South Salt Lake Fire Chief Steve Foote said.
"There was a bit of a delay in getting the fire department notified," Foote said. "They tried to fight it for a bit of time on their own. Unfortunately they were not successful."
In addition to the urban blaze, crews continued to battle wildfires Wednesday that have charred thousands of acres throughout the state.
The fire department was called to BFI Recyclery, 3110 S. 900 West, about 3:30 p.m. The fire burned in tight, wire-bound, stacked bales of compressed trash, Foote said. The bales of trash were stacked 12- to 14- feet. An official at the plant said the fire burned through bales of plastics, metals and paper products.
The fire started near the ground. The flames burned through bottom layers, Foote said.
In some areas, BFI backhoes removed the higher layers of trash so fire crews could get to the flames, Foote said. In other areas, flames penetrated through the layers of trash and shot up 30-40 feet into the air.
Five other fire departments in Salt Lake County helped at the recycling plant or manned stations to free up firefighters.
Three alarms were called for extra personnel. In all, about 50 people were at the scene. "We're rotating people in and out," Foote said.
Nearly 100 people were evacuated from nearby buildings as winds blowing from the south put buildings and rail cars to the north in danger. "Basically, we asked them to shut down for the day," Foot said.
There have been small fires at the recycling plant before — "but not of this magnitude," Foote said.
Firefighters did not know how long the plant employees tried to fight the fire before they called the fire department. The fire department will not cite the recycling plant for failing to immediately call. "The message we'd like to portray (is) if you have something like this, notify us right away," Foote said.
The fire is the second on 900 West in recent weeks, Foote said.
On July 16, a six-alarm blaze burned at the Smurfit-Stone Container Corp., a paper plant, causing $10 million damage. Investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives helped South Salt Lake firefighters determine it was arson.
The recycling plant fire is the sixth multi-alarm fire this summer and four of those were arson.
On Monday, a Weber County fire at a Riverdale storage unit facility caused $250,000 in damage — mostly to lost property. The cause had not been determined.
Elsewhere in the state, crews were planning rehabilitation on the Red Bull Fire — which has burned 1,828 acres in Spanish Fork Canyon mostly on Forest Service lands with 104 acres on state lands, Uinta National Forest spokeswoman Andi Bauer said. The fire was 100 percent contained Tuesday .
About 275 personnel remained at the scene Wednesday evening. There also were two helicopters, three engines, one bulldozer and six water tenders, Bauer said.
A helicopter, air tanker and about 50 personnel were discharged to a five-acre fire near Lake Point, Tooele County about 4:50 p.m. Wednesday. The fire burned near the south side of I-80. It was contained later that night, BLM spokeswoman Ali Knutson said.
The 35,232-acre Hawkins Fire was 90 percent contained Wednesday night, up from 60 percent that morning. "The weather cooperated with us, and it gave us a lot of time for what we call direct attack," which is fighting the fire from its edge, fire information officer Ed Brown said.
Full containment was expected on Friday at 8 p.m. Lightning sparked the fire, outside Enterprise, Washington County, on July 28, Brown said.
The nearby Pine Park Fire remained at 4,800 acres Wednesday night. It was 90 percent contained, Brown said.
Lightning also sparked the fire. Officials originally planned to let it burn for the health of Dixie National Forest, but decided to dig a containment line when it got close to the Hawkins Fire. "You don't want to have fire on your back and you're fighting another fire," Brown said.
E-mail: lhancock@desnews.com