Salt Lake Telegram | 1923-08-05 | Page 11 | Oil Plant Fire Loss $10,000

OIL PLANT FIRE LOSS 510,000 - . i. Fire which started In an a n accounts ac-counts ble manner caueed damage of leas than llft.OOf at tha plant of tha Utah Oil Refining company In the northwest section of the city Saturday afternoon. According to Superintendent E. 0. Holt of the refinery, re-finery, the damage waa confined to the destruction of a boiler house at the acid plant In tha north and of the works. . The lurid flamea and dense pall of black smoke which rolled up from the biasing aludge pit or sump attracted many automobtilsts and the roads leading toward the riant I were soon crowded. Two alarms I were turned In to the fire depart j ment hesdquartere. The first was a (aalasnhnnaaisl mMUM fr-tftm (rt - .finery office, which arrived alrcoef colncldcntly with thjt of a private alarm box at the plant. These wore recorded aa being received at 1: 19 o'clock. The second and general alsrm wss sounded at 1:2? o'clock whn It looked aa tf the f)ame m.ght gat out of control and spread to other parte of the refinery. Platoon B of the fire department crews waa on duty and platoon A. which waa dua to report for duty at o'clock, wae railed by telephone. The wind, which st the tlma .he fire started, was blowing briskly i from the southwest, shifted within i half an hour and whle tha ahlft possibly saved aeversl large tanks said to be partly filled with kerosene kero-sene and gasoline, It drove the flsmea toward the buildings of the arid plant which wet . badly scorched. Trafflo on the atato highway to Ogden waa held up f w about a quarter of an hour when timbers were placed to protect the lines uf hose across the road and the autoa were allowed to proceed. Tralne on the Bamberger electric lino also I were delayed by the line nf hose laid serosa tha track. Getting adequate ade-quate at reams to play on the flames waa difficult because of tha long d lata nee. fully boa feet from the neareat fire hydrants. Before the flemei were gulded one ef the old faahfoned steam fire englnee drawn by a gasoline tractor wae ordered to tha eceaa, but before be-fore It could be put Int? action the fire waa under control.