(KUTV) Salt Lake Fire Crews are responding to a large 5-alarm blaze near 4201 W. 700 South.
According to the Salt Lake City Fire Department, callers are reporting that pallets and buildings are on fire Hazmats may be involved and there have been reports of explosions on scene.
The fire department tweeted around 3:30 p.m. that a worker at Rio’s Auto Recycling was cutting pallets, producing small sparks. He thought he extinguished all small fires from the sparks and went to lunch. When he returned, he found an active fire that he could not extinguish.
SLC Fire tweeted out saying they had approximately 100 firefighters from multiple agencies on scene, one of those firefighters is reported to have received minor injuries, no other injuries at this time.
Incident has escalated to 5 alarms. Approx 100 firefighters from multiple agencies on scene. Safety is priority pic.twitter.com/B6juP4zC3r
— Salt Lake City Fire Department (@slcfire) July 8, 2016
The smoke and flames have spread out so much UDOT has closed down both eastbound and westbound lanes for drivers on Interstate 80 between Interstate 215 West and 5600 W. near milepost 115.
Motorists on Amelia Earhart Drive, near the fire, were stuck in place. Multiple drivers reported being stuck in traffic for more than two hours and counting with traffic at a standstill in both directions because of road closures.
Lady in blue car has been waiting 2+ hrs to get through. She's worried about people w/ no water, access to toilets. pic.twitter.com/5QelccNMZw
— Daniel Woodruff (@danielmwoodruff) July 8, 2016
John Gleason, with UDOT said they aren’t sure how long the I-80 will be closed, and since the closure people have been making bad decisions just for a photo of the blaze.
“There were some concerns with the closure, that we were stopping traffic on the freeway. Anyone who stops on the freeway stay in your cars.” Gleason said and added, “There were people stopping on the freeway, getting out of the vehicles to take pictures of the fire. This is absolutely unsafe and not recommended.”
Gleason also said there were even a few people turning around on the freeway.
NOW: @bmullahy2news from the fire in #SLC out by I-80. #KUTV2NEWS pic.twitter.com/g8wjeLE0Tb
— KUTV 2News (@KUTV2News) July 8, 2016
As for those flying today, the Salt Lake International airport has confirmed that this fire is not affecting air traffic.
About 2,000 customers lost power, but officials at Rocky Mountain Power could not confirm whether the blaze was responsible.
SLC Fire has advised that people stay away from the smoke and flames until hazmat substances are known.
Fire crews are finding shade and resting, rehydrating as they can. Firefighter safety is the priority in this heat. pic.twitter.com/efeV39L3Iw
— Salt Lake City Fire Department (@slcfire) July 8, 2016
2News has multiple crews on scene and will continue to update this story all afternoon.
You can follow Matt Gephardt: @GetGephardt , Brian Mullahy: @bmullahy2news , Heidi Hatch:@tvheidihatch for more information.
http://kutv.com/news/local/large-fire-burning-in-salt-lake-city-possible-hazmat
This is why You call FF instead of police. They get r Done. And in my case and the 85% of the Country they do it FOR FREEE. Sorry I had to plug that. That’s a big fire though..