ST. GEORGE – Around noon Wednesday a structure fire was reported in the Snow Canyon Parkway area. Upon arrival, responders reported it was a large trailer that had caught on fire.
The owners were reinforcing parts of the trailer by welding metal braces to the outside, when the heat from the welding passed through and into the material inside, igniting it, and filling the trailer with smoke. Chief Robert Stoker, St. George Fire Department, estimates the loss to be around $15,000 to $20,000, and possibly totaled.
“We were able to get inside and get it knocked down,” Stoker said. “It took us about 15-20 minutes.”
The potential risk in these types of incidents is the proximity of other structures, homes, vehicles and objects that, given a large enough fire, could also ignite.
The important thing for people involved in these types of projects is to be aware of dangers, and to take measures to prevent them, or to quickly solve them if they do happen.
“A lot of times people are welding on the metal, and they don’t think about where the heat is going,” Stoker said. “We’ve had a few instances like this, not only trailers, but in homes and buildings.”
Fortunately, nobody was injured in this incident, and it stands as a reminder of how fast fire accidents can destroy property and potentially cause injuries.
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