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SALT LAKE CITY — A third-generation family business burned in a huge fire overnight, and now investigators are saying it was likely intentionally set.
Smoke and flames were spotted just before 1 a.m. at the one-acre Pioneer Sawdust compound located at 621 Fulton St. in Salt Lake City. Scott Freitag of the Salt Lake City Fire Department said multiple buildings on the property are used to produce sawdust products and products for cleaning up spills.
It is devastating. We're, again, not sure how to proceed. We've obviously never been through this before.
–Duncan Brockbank, owner
#brockbank_quote
Flames quickly spread from building to building, damaging vehicles and equipment along the way.
"This was a third alarm fire, which means we had upwards of 50 firefighters on scene, because of the size of the property - over one acre and lots of equipment and buildings. It took that many to deal with this," Freitag said.
Duncan Brockbank, the owner of Pioneer Sawdust, told KSL News he's in shock. "We're just kind of going through the motions and trying to determine what needs to be done to get back on track," he said.
The biggest building on the property, about 8,000 square feet, suffered significant damage. It took dozens of firefighters to control the flames.
"It is devastating," Brockbank said. "We're, again, not sure how to proceed. We've obviously never been through this before."
Firefighters say they don't know how the fire started, but they say it appears suspicious.
"There was nobody here," Freitag noted. "The last time an employee was known to be here was about 6:30, so six or seven hours ago is when we knew someone was on scene."
Pioneer Sawdust has been in business since the early 1950s. Now every building on the compound has been damaged by fire, smoke, or water.
Among the devastation, the fire safe Brockbank's grandfather built is still standing; and inside, hefound two tiny bright spots.
"We're very lucky these survived," said office manager Jazmyn Swainston, holding up two USB drives. She said they contain all the company's records.
No word yet on what the damage will cost Pioneer Sawdust financially. Brockbank says they are working with their insurance company to see what can be done to start over.
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