SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, June 13, 2021 (Gephardt Daily) — Crews responded to a 3-alarm fire early Sunday morning in the area of 1110 Ashton Ave. and South Highland Drive in Salt Lake City, just off of Interstate 80.
According to Salt Lake City Fire Department Battalion Chief Dan Walker, no one is believed to be inside the structure, which he described as an office building.
As of this report, crews are about two hours into fighting the fire, which was first reported at 2 a.m. Battalion Chief Walker says there have already been a number of collapses throughout the building and it is too dangerous for crews to go inside.
Walker said a nearby apartment building was being threatened and residents had been evacuated.
Crews worked quickly to protect nearby homes. Aside from windows on the evacuated apartments being broken out by the intense heat, there are no reports of damage to adjacent buildings.
However, burning embers sparked a number of spot fires along I-80, which crews were quick to put out. The fire department also deployed incident management teams along the interstate to help guide drivers through the heavy smoke.
Fire crews are expected to be on the scene throughout Sunday morning, and possibly through the day, monitoring for hotspots and investigating the cause of the fire as soon as it is safe to do so.
One firefighter has been taken to the hospital suffering from smoke inhalation, according to Walker. There are no other reports of injuries.
Gephardt Daily has a crew on the scene and will continue to update this story as soon as new information is available.
