Cedar City firefighters extinguish blaze outside roofing materials manufacturing plant

Written by Jeff Richards
March 19, 2023

CEDAR CITY — Firefighters quickly extinguished a blaze outside of a Cedar City manufacturing plant on Sunday afternoon. 

Scene of a blaze that burned just outside the GAF manufacturing plant, Cedar City, Utah, March 19, 2023 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

The incident was reported at approximately 4:04 p.m. at the GAF plant located just north of state Route 56 at 5080 West.

Firefighters arrived to find stacks of foam roofing insulation material with paper backing had caught fire just outside the building’s north side.

“That’s the product they make here — foam roofing insulation — that caught on fire, with some paper backing,” Cedar City Fire Chief Mike Phillips said.

Crews were able to knock down the flames quickly with streams of water, Phillips told Cedar City News at the scene. Just over an hour after responding, firefighters were putting away equipment and checking for hot spots.

No injuries were reported. All employees who were working inside the building were able to safely evacuate after the fire alarms went off, Phillips said.

Although some exterior damage to the building was visible, the incident was unlikely to disrupt operations inside the plant, company employees said at the scene. 

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, Phillips noted.

Phillips said that approximately 33 Cedar City Fire Department personnel responded to the blaze, including four fire engines and one ladder truck, plus three command staff and one support staff.

This report is based on preliminary information provided by fire department officials and may not contain the full scope of findings.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jeff Richards, a native of Salt Lake City with family roots in Panguitch, lived in Moab for 20 years before joining St. George News in 2017. Jeff is a longtime journalist and secondary school teacher. He and his wife Penny are the parents of five daughters. They also have three young grandsons. Jeff and his family enjoy swimming, camping, sightseeing, reading, and taking pictures.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @stgnews@moabjeff@stgnewssports

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