FIRE: Smithfield factory burns

More than 75 valley firefighters battled flames that consumed a Smithfield palette factory Tuesday night.

Smithfield Fire Chief Jay Downs said both the cause of the fire and the damage to the factory, 40 W. 400 South, were unknown. An investigation will be launched Wednesday morning, he said.

No injuries were reported Tuesday, but Downs said power was cut to the home of an elderly woman who relied on an oxygen tank. The woman would likely be displaced for the night, he said.

The fire was reported at 9:37 p.m. and Downs said crews had the blaze contained to the building by 10:45 p.m.

Gilbert Gabaldon, a Smithfield resident who lives on the same street as the factory and who called in the fire, said he saw 3-foot flames coming off the roof of the building.

“That fire, within about three minutes, went from 3 feet to 15 feet,” he said. “There’s a lot of dry wood.”

Downs said both the buildings structure and the palettes in and around the building were fueling the flames.

Logan Fire Chief Steve Meaker said the fire was one of the largest fires in recent memory, and the first major structure fire since Cache County entered into a valley-wide automatic aid agreement.

“We were able to get a large response here tonight,” Meaker said of the more than 10 fire engines that responded to the four-alarm fire. “This is already paying dividends.”

-acf@cc.usu.edu