One injured in SLC barn fire Friday

SALT LAKE CITY — One person is injured due to a fire at a large barn in Salt Lake City Friday morning.

According to Capt. Brandt Hancuff with the Salt Lake City Fire Department, firefighters responded to the call around 10 a.m.

“Salt Lake City Fire Department received phone calls for a large fire at a barn located out on the west side of Salt Lake City, north of the International Airport. Upon our arrival, we had a fully involved barn that was loaded with lots of hay bales, that has proven to be difficult to get the fire fully extinguished,” he said. 

Huncuff explained that there were some issues getting water to the fire initially. 

“We’re currently running a water shuttle supply of multiple fire engines to get water to these areas so that we can get adequate amounts of water onto the fire.”

The fire is located at 3200 W. 3300 N.

Roads surrounding 3200 W. and 3300 N. are closed for the time being. 

SLCFD is on scene of a large barn fire at 3200 W. and 3300 N. PIO is on scene. All roads around the area are closed to provide water shuttle operations. Please avoid the area to assist in fire operations. Updates to follow. pic.twitter.com/g1MX8caGoA

— Salt Lake City Fire Department (@slcfire) June 28, 2024

Hazmat concerns

Huncuff told KSL NewsRadio that the SLCFD is working with multiple agencies including Unified Fire Authority and South Davis Metro Fire.

“Right now we have a total of 21 units on scene with over 100 firefighters on scene at the moment. We did have one civilian injury. That individual was transported to the hospital in serious condition and then we did have some hazmat concerns as well on this farm,” said Hancuff. 

Concerns stemmed from large diesel tanks and powerlines that were located near the fire.

“We had to ensure that we were cooling [the diesel tanks] with the water supply so that they didn’t ignite… We’ve had Rocky Mountain Power come out to de-energize those to protect our firefighting efforts.”

Hay bales on the property are proving problematic for firefighters. 

“Hay bales, number one, they’re stacked very tight together. They’re baled very tight together and when they ignite that just tends to smolder and it’s hard to get it fully,” said Huncuff.

“Our plan right now, because we have an initial knockdown on the fire, we’re going to utilize heavy equipment to pull haybales out of the structure… then we’re going to spread them out and utilize foam to ensure that we get that fire fully extinguished.”

According to Hancuff, there were no animals near the fire but the structure is a total loss. 

The investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing.

Adam Small is a reporter for KSL NewsRadio. He primarily reports on the Great Salt Lake and Natural Resources. Follow him on Facebook and X.  

Devin Oldroyd is a digital content producer for KSL NewsRadio. Follow him on X.

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