SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, July 20, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — Six firefighting agencies and more than 100 firefighters were on the scene of the Sandhurst Fire within three hours of when it first sparked on Ensign Peak, north of the Utah State Capitol.
Salt Lake City Fire spokesman Robert Silverthorne told reporters gathered on the Capitol grounds that as of 7:30 p.m., no structures had been destroyed and no injuries were reported.
Silverthorne said mandatory evacuations are in effect for the Sandhurst area, north of Dorchester, including Twickingham Drive.
“And at this point we have a voluntary evacuation of East Capitol Boulevard, north of Ensign Vista drive,” he said. “And if you’re familiar with the area, East Capital Boulevard continues up and turns into North Coast. So that would include that community up there being under voluntary evacuation.”
Feeding the fire is a variety of fuels, Silverthorne said. White to light smoke tends to come from dried grasses.
“When it (smoke) starts getting darker, we can tell that it gets more into fuels that have more of an oil content, some of that sagebrush, chaparral, some of those larger trees, something, some brush or vegetation that has a higher and maybe a denser load.”
Buildings at greatest risk are those built adjacent to wild lands, Silverthorne said. Among those, the most likely to survive are those without grasses, trees and other sources of fuel close by.
The water helicopters dump on the fire is collected by buckets being lowered into several local reservoirs, he said.
Gephardt Daily will have more information as the story develops.
