(Photo courtesy of the Wendover Fire Department) Fire destroyed a World War II-era barracks at the Historic Wendover Airfield on Monday.
The Wendover Fire Department is investigating the cause of a fire that destroyed a barracks at the historic Wendover Airfield.
The World War II-era structure was “completely engulfed” in flames when firefighters arrived on Monday shortly after 5 p.m., according to a news release from the Wendover Fire Department. The structure was “completely destroyed,” fire officials said. There were no injuries.
The former U.S. Air Force facility was a training base for B-17 and B-24 bomber and P-47 fighter crews during World War II — and for the B-29 crews that would drop atomic bombs on Japan. At the height of the war, the base was home to almost 18,000 members of the military and 2,000 civilians.
The airbase includes the restored hangar that housed the Enola Gay, which dropped the LIttle Boy atomic bomb that destroyed the city of Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945. That hangar was not touched by the fire.
The base has also been used as a location for a number of Hollywood movies, including “Hulk” (2003), “The Core” (2003), “Con Air” (1997), “Independence Day” (1996), “Mulholland Falls” (1996), “Wind” (1992) and “The Philadelphia Experiment” (1984).
According to the Wendover Fire Department, the barracks that was destroyed was being rented by a “private party” when the fire began. In addition to WFD, crews from the West Wendover Fire Department and the Wendover Airport Fire Department were called in to battle the blaze.
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