Suspicious Fire In Abandoned Salt Lake City House Interrupts TRAX Service
Mar 22, 2019, 9:23 PM | Updated: Mar 23, 2019, 5:53 pm
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Crews are looking into a suspicious fire that started Friday in an abandoned downtown house.
Firefighting efforts also affected TRAX Red, Green and Blue Line trains in the area.
Authorities received the call at approximately 7 p.m. of the fire near 900 South and 200 West, and deemed it suspicious since the building was unoccupied.
Firefighters respond to an abandon house fire near 900 South 200 West. TRAX lines are also impacted until crews clear the scene @KSL5TV pic.twitter.com/GfkE5djfv6
— Ashley Moser (@AshleyMoser) March 23, 2019
Firefighters said they were unsure how long the two-alarm fire had been burning before they responded. As fire trucks arrived, train tracks were blocked, leading UTA to establish a bus bridge from the 900 South station to the Ballpark station.
Capt. Tony Stowe with the Salt Lake City Fire Department said crews took a defensive approach, fighting the fire from the outside of the home because they were not sure about the integrity of the structure.
“We have no idea how long the fire may have been burning for, and some of what we call an inspection cut in the floor had some flames coming up in various locations throughout the house,” Stowe said.
Crews had the fire put out shortly after 9 p.m., and TRAX service resumed less than an hour afterward.
There were no injuries. The cause of the fire is under investigation.