This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Salt Lake City fire crews responded Wednesday afternoon to a two-alarm fire at a shuttered business at 1505 S. Main Street, which sent billowing black smoke into the sky for more than an hour.

The fire, first reported at about 12:25 p.m., was in a boarded-up building at the corner of Main Street and Andrew Avenue (1505 South), which once sold candles, perfumes, oils and incense, according to its signage.

Though the building was supposed to be vacant, there were signs of transient activity, said Salt Lake City Fire spokesman Jasen Asay. The cause of the fire was under investigation.

Firefighters attacked the blaze from outside the building — which was a total loss — but let the damaged roof burn, Asay said.

The fire was under control by about 2:30 p.m. Main Street, meanwhile, was closed from about 1300 South to 1600 South, and businesses and homes directly southeast of the fire were evacuated.

No injuries were reported.

When firefighters arrived on scene, a bystander told them that there was a methamphetamine laboratory inside, which firefighters treated as a possibility, Asay said.

But the fire department soon announced on Twitter that "fire investigators have info that this building was a meth lab 10 years ago, but there is no credible info now that there was a lab present."

Fire investigators had consulted with the Drug Enforcement Administration on the history of building, and also talked with building owners, fire officials said.

mmcfall@sltrib.com

Twitter: @MikeyPanda