
A firefighter prepares to spray flames at a fire that destroyed barracks at the historic Wendover Air Force Base on Monday.
WENDOVER, Utah – Barracks at the historic Wendover Air Force Base were destroyed by a fire of unknown origin early Monday morning.
Wendover Fire Department firefighters responded to the blaze and immediately began fighting the fire at the barracks, which were fully engulfed in flames. The West Wendover Fire Department and the Wendover Airport Fire Department were called to assist.
The barracks were being rented by a private party, according to WFD. No injuries were reported.
Wendover Police Department stated that the origin of the fire was unconfirmed, and they are awaiting a response from the Utah State Fire Marshal.
The facility was a training base for B-17 and B-24 bomber crews in the 1940s, as well as the training site for the B-29 unit that dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Construction of the remote base and gunnery/bombing range began in 1940. A hangar at the base that housed the Enola Gay is considered an endangered historical site.
In October 2015, a Utah man found a 6-foot-long World War II-era bomb outside the base. The “practice bomb” was detonated by a team from Hill Air Force Base.