LAYTON — Crews responded to a Dairy Queen in Layton on Friday afternoon after a fire erupted inside the building.
The blaze prompted an evacuation of both employees and customers who were inside at the time.
Layton Fire Department Battalion Chief Jason Cook said an employee from the store located on state Route 193 called about 3:30 p.m. reporting that the backroom, the kitchen and freezer area, was starting to fill up with smoke.
As crews were en route to the Dairy Queen, another employee called stating that they could see flames in the walls near the freezers.
"Our first arriving fire apparatus encountered pretty heavy smoke. When we got there, it was pretty clear that there was a fire in the location that they had described," Cook said.
Fire crews from Layton and Hill Air Force Base responded to get the fire extinguished.
Cook said the configuration of the large freezers made it difficult for crews to access the flames inside of the walls.
"We had to use saws and other means to open up the exterior walls to get water on the fire," which lasted about 20 minutes before they got it under control, Cook said.
The fire left extensive damage to the establishment, according to Cook. An exact estimate on the damages weren't immediately known, but he suspects it could be between $100,000 to $200,000.
He believes the Dairy Queen could remain closed temporarily.
The cause is under investigation, but Cook said the initial indication is that it started as a result of an electrical malfunction in the wall, associated with one or both of the freezers, though that is yet to be determined.
