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Sandra Yi reportingDon Giles: "I think when we first saw this last night, there were huge flames back here. We had no idea, we thought it was a done deal."
A huge fire rips through a South Salt Lake business, causing millions of dollars in damage.
Investigators are still trying to figure out what, or who sparked the blaze at Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation, a paper manufacturing and packaging plant.
The fire is out, but areas are still smoldering. The burned paper will be torn down and put in water, so they don't rekindle. Those bales of paper quickly fueled an intense blaze.
Last night, the raging six-alarm fire poured thick smoke in the air, and sent burning ash and debris flying. It took more than 140 firefighters and 7 hours to get a handle on it.
Chief Steve Foote, South Salt Lake Fire Dept.: "I've never seen an event this big managed as well as it was managed, from all my peers in the valley. Everybody came running."
The fire was a spectacular site because of the fuel load.
There were flames, as high as 200 feet, as 4 thousand tons of paper rolls, burned. All 120 workers inside, were safely evacuated. They watched in awe. Many of them, felt helpess.
Manuel Valverde, Employee: "The first thing that went through my mind is, there are a lot of people going to be out of work for a while, and I don't know what the future holds right now, so a lot of sadness right now."
But the aftermath wasn't so devastating. Crews managed to contain the fire to the storage area outside, where the fire is believed to have started.
Inside the warehouse, most of the company's equipment, worth 35 million dollars, is still intact. And there's minimal structure damage. The company's general manager toured the facility, this afternoon. He expressed a sense of relief.
Don Giles General Manager: "After what we saw last night, we thought it was just a raging inferno. We didn't think there was going to be much left."
Investigators are still trying to determine what caused the fire. They're not ruling out arson or domestic terrorism. That possibility angers employees, who are now left waiting and wondering, about their fate.
Maneul Valverde: "People don't realize there are livelihoods here at stake. It affects a lot of people. It hurts everybody."
Chief Steve Foote, South Salt Lake Fire Dept.: "I can tell you this. We are going to be very thorough, we're going to take our time with this, and we're going to find out who did this, whether it was an accident or intentional, whatever the cause may be, we're going to find out what caused this."
The company's G-M says there are areas in the plant that can operate in a day or two.
A temporary office will be set up inside a building next door and all employees have been asked to wait, until they're notified, to help with clean up.
Right now, damages total at least 4 million dollars. That's just for materials lost in the fire.
