SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Sept. 16, 2018 (Gephardt Daily) — The strong winds on Saturday complicated firefighting efforts for crews battling fires in the city.
A news release from Salt Lake City Fire Department late Saturday night said a call reporting a large grass fire came in at 5 p.m. The fire was in the area of 2000 W. Indiana Ave. (850 South)
“Crews responded within 10 minutes, and held the two-alarm outdoor blaze. However embers — carried by wind gusts as high as 40 mph — landed on a nearby structure, causing it to catch fire,” the news release states.
Incident commanders then called in a two-alarm structure fire. The high winds made suppressing the fire not only difficult, but hazardous as well.
Shortly after 10 p.m., SLCFD announced that the grass fire is fully contained but “continues to burn, deeply under piles of debris.”
Crews planned to be on scene all night to monitor the situation and protect nearby structures. They will begin suppression efforts again in the morning.
Forty-two firefighters responded to this four-alarm blaze.
No civilians were injured in the incident, but one firefighter was transferred to University of Utah Medical Center for smoke inhalation.
Investigators are still in the process of determining the cause of the grass fire, which burned roughly 10 acres. They also are still estimating the cost of damages to the structure, surrounding area and equipment destroyed in the incident, the news release said.
