SOUTH SALT LAKE, Utah, May 4, 2016 (Gephardt Daily) — A truck full of pork belly went up in flames Wednesday afternoon while docked at local bacon factory in South Salt Lake.
South Salt Lake Fire Battalion Chief Jason Nicholl said fire crews were dispatched at approximately 1 p.m. to a tractor-trailer fire at a loading dock at Daily’s Premium Meats, at 3535 S. 500 West.
“Our crews arrived to a fully engulfed truck,” Nicholl said. “The fire did not make it inside the building, and everyone got out safely. Our crews made a really quick and good stop of the fire and the staff was able shut the doors and sound off the fire alarms, which helped tremendously.”
Nicholl said four different fire departments responded ─ West Valley City Fire, Unified Fire, Murray City Fire and South Salt Lake Fire ─ and helped the situation from getting much worse.
The building was already evacuated and remained that way for several hours while crews worked to clear the building of smoke. There was no internal structure damage to the building.
Sharon Opfermann, the owner of Camp Bow Wow, which is located in the same parking lot as the factory, said she arrived at work just as the fire started.
(Video provided by: Sharon Opfermann)
“I noticed some flames coming out of the refrigeration unit on top of the truck cab,” Opfermann said. “The driver grabbed his fire extinguisher and was spraying it and trying to put the fire out when it just fully engulfed.”
Opfermann said there wasn’t much wind, which helped limit the spread of the smoke and flames. She said she was grateful the fire department was able to put the fire out as quickly as it did.
A worker at the factory said that the truck did not actually belong to Daily’s. It belonged to another company contracted to bring deliveries to the factory.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, and there currently is no estimate on damages.
(Video Provided by Ariana Hazzard)
