SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Aug. 1, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — Fire officials have determined the cause of the Sandhurst Fire which threatened homes near Utah’s Capitol Hill was sparked by power company equipment.
“After a thorough scene examination of the evidence and circumstances surrounding the incident, the SLCFD Investigations Unit in conjunction with the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire, and State Lands has determined that the cause of the fire was accidental, originating from power transmission equipment,” the Salt Lake Fire Department said in a Thursday press release.
“The Sandhurst Fire, which occurred on July 20, 2024, required extensive efforts from our firefighters to bring it under control. Fortunately, no structures were damaged and no injuries sustained.”
After the fire broke out near Ensign Peak that Saturday afternoon, crews by Monday evening had the blaze 82 percent contained, officials said at the time.
The blaze originated at a site near Ensign Peak where Rocky Mountain Power crews had been working on a project to bury power lines, said Division Chief Bob Silverthorne, a public information officer with SLCFD.
A spark from equipment, not a power line, ignited the fire, Silverthorne told Gephardt Daily.
A passerby in the area reported the fire, he said.
“There was nothing intentional,” Silverthorne said. “We were able to rule that out pretty early, no fireworks or teenagers or a homeless camp or any kind of human behavior.”
He said 12 different fire agencies and more than 100 firefighters fought the flames, assisted by helicopters and fixed wing aircraft. Original estimates of the size at 400 acres were refined via mapping to a final figure of 204 acres, Silverthorne said.
The fire brought evacuation orders for residents when flames came within a half mile of homes that Saturday, July 20, officials said at the time.
Those orders were lifted about 10 p.m. Sunday, with officials saying the wildfire’s progress toward homes had been stopped. Mandatory evacuations had been ordered for residents north of Dorchester Drive, including Twickenham Drive, with voluntary evacuations recommended for the neighborhood west of East Capitol Boulevard and east of Victory Road.
