SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Oct. 20, 2021 (Gephardt Daily) — Fire crews responded to a two-alarm fire Wednesday night at the historic Joseph Smith Memorial Building in downtown Salt Lake City.
The call came in at about 7:18 p.m., SLCFD Captain Anthony Burton told Gephardt Daily. Security personnel from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints called in the fire.
“It was actually identified, they told us, by my sister missionaries,” Burton said. “It was on the roof on the second level.”
The building has 10 stories and was formerly used as the Hotel Utah. A lower section of two stories is set between two tall wings of the building.
“When our initial battalion chief arrived, there was smoke and flames,” Burton said. “We called the second alarm that allowed us to get a lot of firefighters there in a hurry. We had it under control in 30 minutes.”
Initial access was from inside the building, then an aerial attack was added with a ladder truck on the street.
“It appears that what was on fire on that roof was some construction debris,” Burton said. “They are having some work done on that roof level.”
Burton said it’s unknown what caused the fire to ignite, and a damage estimate may be available in the morning.
No one was injured in the fire, Burton said. The building had some smoke and water damage, he added.
Nearby roadways were closed for several hours, but have since reopened, Burton said.
“We thank the community for their support, because we did have it closed for quite some time, and it’s a heavy traffic area.”
