This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
South Salt Lake fire crews rushed to the scene of a blaze at composting company site that briefly jumped to a field near Interstate 15 Thursday morning.
Deputy Fire Chief Kevin Bowman said the flames erupted about 6 a.m. in a 50-60 foot by 50-60 foot pile of compost at the Diamond Tree Experts' DT Green Waste Disposal site, 3645 S. 500 West. Flames also spread into a field adjacent to and west of I-15.
Crews quickly snuffed the field fire and had contained the compost pile fire by 6:35 a.m.
What caused the fire to ignite was under investigation, but compost does generate heat, and low relative humidity and hotter weather all may have combined to bring spontaneous combustion.
"I guess it's pretty good compost and somehow it got hot enough to catch fire," Bowman said.
No structures were damaged and no injuries reported, but Bowman said the pile likely would continue to smoke and smolder into late Thursday morning as firefighters, aided by DT workers, labored to break up, move and douse the compost.
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