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WEST JORDAN — A can light ignited a fire that caused an estimated $250,000 in damages to three businesses Wednesday, fire officials said.
The fire broke out at 7:30 a.m. at 6714 S. 4570 West. Responding crews "found black thick smoke pumping out of the building," according to West Jordan Deputy Fire Chief Reed Scharman. Eventually one alarm turned into two and fire crews from West Jordan, Unified, South Jordan and West Valley City responded.
By 9 a.m. crews were extinguishing hot spots. Three buildings in an industrial strip were affected, according to Scharman. Two of the businesses — Precision Performance and Coatings and Direct Pro Essentials — received major damage and another, Quick Dispense, minor smoke damage.
The north unit "is really structurally unsafe for its interior office and it sustained some damage to the roof that's the common roof to the whole building. Some metal joist and metal decking will have to be replaced just over that piece but they were able to restore power to the other units and those would be still functional," Scharman said.
No one was in the building at the time of the fire and no one was injured, he said.
Investigators discovered that the fire started by a can light that overheated, although it was unclear if the fire was sparked by wattage that was too high or was a result of previous remodeling work.
"It was where that light was that it melted down and started the wood framing and flooring on fire," Scharman said.
The building was not protected by fire sprinklers, but the size and type of building and materials inside made it so that sprinklers were not necessary, he said.
The fire caused an estimated $250,000 in damage.
Email: nvowell@ksl.com
