SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Dec. 14, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — A day after the city administration announced the demolition of four unsafe buildings as fire hazards in the city’s Ballpark neighborhood, another fire has erupted.
Shortly before 7 p.m. Wednesday, Ballpark residents were watching, and sharing social media, on a fire in a building at 1030 S. State St. “Another fire in Ballpark right now,” said Amy J. Hawkins.
“The vacant commercial building two buildings south of us is on fire right now,” wrote Randy Topham at 7:19 p.m. He also posted pics from the scene.
“There are 7 firetrucks there right now,” Topham said. “Earlier this week we noticed that a small window had been broken out. Looks like they must have climbed up and in, then lit a fire. It sure gets frustrating.”
Salt Lake City Fire crews have now responded to fires in the Baseball neighborhood on Dec. 14, Dec. 10, Dec. 2, Nov. 29 and Nov. 28.
Wednesday night’s fire comes one day after Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall announced four unsafe buildings in the Ballpark neighborhood, two of which recently burned, would be demolished at the owners’ expense.
Hawkins, a Ballpark neighborhood resident and Ballpark Community Council chair, agrees the properties need to come down.
“These four are the worst. If we’re so lucky to see these four demo’ed, there will be a next four. Maybe those next four won’t be in Ballpark, maybe they’ll be in Glendale, or Fairpark,” Hawkins said. “But no neighborhood deserves these fires.
“No one has been hurt yet, to our knowledge,” Hawkins told Gephardt Daily Wednesday night, “but given the frequency of these fires, it only feels like a matter of time before that changes.”
