- Salt Lake City fire crews battled a three-alarm fire at a recycling facility.
- The fire produced thick black smoke visible from I-80 and Redwood Road.
SALT LAKE CITY — Fire crews spent most of the afternoon and evening on Tuesday battling a three-alarm structure fire at a recycling facility near 369 S. and Orange Street on Tuesday.
A large plume of smoke from the fire could be seen from across the Salt Lake Valley, from nearby I-80 and Redwood Road and from as far away as Davis County, according to Salt Lake City Fire Capt. Chad Jepperson.
He said crews arrived at the industrial area, where several warehouses are stationed, around 3 p.m. to find the building fully engulfed in flames.
"There was a lot of black smoke, as many of you have probably seen — It's knocked down considerably," he told reporters during a briefing Tuesday afternoon. Crews were still on scene at 10 p.m, but said much of the danger had been averted.
"After 5.5 hours of work, SLCFD Incident Command has called a "Loss Stopped", marking the end of danger to the public, damage to the property, and the transition of fire fighting operations to Fire Watch," the fire department wrote in an update on their "X" account late Tuesday night.
After 5.5 hours of work, SLCFD Incident Command has called a "Loss Stopped", marking the end of danger to the public, damage to the property, and the transition of fire fighting operations to Fire Watch. SLCFD crews will take turns monitoring the scene through the night.
— Salt Lake City Fire Department (@slcfire) May 20, 2026
Jepperson said no one was injured and officials don't suspect anyone was inside the building at the time the fire broke out.
"There is still a considerable amount of smoke that's going to continue until we get everything on the outside completely extinguished," he said
Orange Street was closed for a time while fire crews remained on scene, and the public was urged to avoid the area due to heavy smoke.
"We've got a lot of people slowing down to look at the incident — that doesn't really help out anybody," Jepperson said. "If you can avoid the area, please avoid the area; there's no real reason to be over here and expose yourself to this stuff."
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
