SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Oct. 26, 2018 (Gephardt Daily) — Salt Lake City fire crews responded to multiple calls of a large grass fire immediately to the east of the Utah State Capitol Building on Friday night. Upon arrival, they found at least five, possibly six, fires burning.
Capt. Adam Archuleta, public information officer for Salt Lake City Fire Department, said several calls were received reporting a man starting spot fires in the grassy area around Memory Grove Park, near 375 N. 120 East.
Crews were dispatched at about 8:13 p.m., and when multiple fires were found, the call was upgraded to five units and a total of 25 firefighters, Archuleta said.
The fires were quickly contained, thanks to the cool weather and north winds.
“A few weeks ago,” Archuleta said, “this would have been a fire that could have progressed a lot faster.”
He said officials are investigating the fires as arson, because callers reported that a man who was seen walking northbound along East Capitol Boulevard was “throwing some sort of devices over into the grass, catching fire.”
The devices were found; however, Archuleta had no details as to what exactly they are. He did say this was not a case of someone starting a small fire to try to keep warm.
The fires stayed in a small area, “somewhere close to an acre,” he said. Everything was de-escalated by about 9:15 p.m., and crews were being released.
Archuleta said the fires were confined to the grass, and there was no damage to structures or property.
I noticed an increase of vandalism in the area. One can find graffiti on trail signs, trees and even on rocks.
There must be a way to track down those graffiti symbols by the pattern found elsewhere.