EAGLE MOUNTAIN — A storage of hay bales burned early Saturday, lighting up an area southwest of town.

Fire investigators don't know how the fire started, but they were called to the scene just after midnight, said Unified Fire Authority Capt. Fitzgerald Petersen.

He said "several thousand-pound stacks of hay" were ablaze, as well as overhead structures meant to help keep that hay dry and protected from the elements. He said the value of the hay lost in the fire was going to be quite large.

Firefighters also had a tough job putting out the flames, Petersen said.

"Hay fires just take hours to put out," he said. "We're unable to penetrate the material with traditional water, so the only way to put it out is to spread it out."

The cause of the fire remained under investigation.

—Wendy Leonard

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