Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SARATOGA SPRINGS -- Residents in a Utah County neighborhood can rest easy after being on all-night alert because of a fire at an explosives plant.
[We were] erring on the side of caution, trusting that if it really was serious we would receive more information.
–Luanne Markham, Saratoga Springs resident
A fire in Saratoga Springs started Tuesday evening and burned for several hours. It's now out, but crews are continuing to keep an eye on hot spots.
The fire was at Dyno Nobel, an explosives plant located at the south end of Saratoga Springs. The plant tests explosives and stores hazardous materials.
Crews determined it would be safer to allow the fire to burn itself out and burn up the materials rather than fight it.
"When you go to put it out, then you get your personnel closer to the hazardous materials and you endanger them. And a lot of times it's better for the hazardous materials just to burn up; you get rid of those, and it's just safer," explained Tim Hay, with the Saratoga Springs Fire Department.
Crews enlisted support in fire departments from Lone Peak, Eagle Mountain, Lehi, Goshen and Cedar Fort. They also called in hazmat teams from Provo and Orem to monitor the air quality because of a concern that there was the potential for toxic smoke from the Ammonium nitrate stored in the area.
As a precaution, the fire department sent out reverse 911 calls asking some residents to stay inside and keep their windows closed. Residents used emergency phone trees to get the word out.
"We were told just to shut our windows and to turn off our furnaces, so that we weren't sucking outside air in, in case there was bad air," said Saratoga Springs resident Amy Loveless.
Luanne Markham, who also lives in Saratoga Springs, said, "[We were] erring on the side of caution, trusting that if it really was serious we would receive more information."
The residents say they received information throughout the night from the fire department.
Crews say no one was hurt in this fire, and hazmat teams did not detect any unsafe levels in the air.
The fire continues to smolder in a few hot spots. That could go on for a few hours.
Crews don't know the cause of the fire, and with a total burnout it may be difficult to determine the source.
E-mail: aforester@ksl.com
