Crews battle fire at abandoned Salt Lake house

SALT LAKE CITY — Fire caused heavy damage to an abandoned home in Salt Lake City Thursday.

After fighting heavy smoke and flames in the three level structure, 635 N. 300 West, for an hour, firefighters were forced to go into a defensive mode, meaning they could only fight the fire by pouring water on it from the outside, said Salt Lake Fire Capt. Anthony Burton.

Officials closed 300 West between 600 North and 800 North while firefighters battled the blaze. The road was expected to remain closed for several hours.

The fire was reported about 8 a.m. Crews arrived to find heavy smoke and flames coming from two floors in the rear of the structure, Burton said. No one was inside the vacant home. Burton did not know how long the home had been abandoned.

The fire spread to a detached garage. Another problem was arcing power lines that had fallen on a metal fence, Burton said. Once the power was turned off, firefighters were able to get on the roof and fight the fire that had now gotten into the attic.

But because there were so many void spaces in the attic for the fire to spread, Burton said after an hour, crews were forced to pull out of the home and go defensive.

A cause of the fire was still under investigation as of Thursday. No injuries were reported.

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