This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Investigators spent Monday morning hunting for clues to the cause of a fire that burned a Salt Lake City nightclub just after the club's burglar alarm went off.
Crews responded to the fire at 204 W. 2100 South at 11:10 p.m. Sunday, according to Salt Lake City fire spokesman Jasen Asay. Club Expose´ occupies the front of the narrow cinder block building, though the flames were located in a rear, unoccupied portion of the structure.
After arriving, firefighters focused on containment, dousing the sides of the building with hoses mounted on ladder trucks. The building's roof eventually collapsed, Asay reported, after which crews entered the building and extinguished the flames. The fire was out by 12:15 a.m.
The nightclub was closed and empty at the time of the blaze and no injuries were reported. Crews closed an adjacent TRAX line while they fought the fire.
The cause of the fire remained under investigation Monday. According to Asay, the building's security alarm sounded just before the fire began.
Property owner Chung Ji Dai told the Salt Lake Tribune that he was at home Sunday night when his security company called to say alarms had been triggered at both the front and rear of the building. He called police and headed to the business.
"I was a little bit scared," he said. "On the way they call me again and say, 'your building is on fire.' "
Dai said he has had repeated break-ins at the building and calls police at least twice a month about problems with transients. According to Dai, transients break in to sleep in the building while others enter to steal things, including copper.
Dai has insurance, which he hopes covers the damage, but called the fire "disappointing." He said the area affected by the fire included approximately 6,000 square feet.
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