Salt Lake City wildfire prompts mandatory evacuations

21/7/2024 13:31

        Salt Lake City officials have ordered residents to evacuate some areas ahead of a wildfire as more than 100 firefighters work to contain the blaze.
        
        Helicopters and airplanes were dropping buckets over the flames Saturday as ground crews tried to contain the fire on Ensign Peak.
        
        The first fire crew was dispatched around 4:30 p.m. and more than six different emergency agencies have joined the effort to stop the brush fire, Division Chief Bob Silverthorne of the Salt Lake City Fire Department said at a news briefing.
        
        The fire department ordered a mandatory evacuation for an area of 40 homes on Sandhurst Drive, north of Dorchester Drive, and the police department were going to individual homes to notify residents. Other areas were evacuating voluntarily, Silverthorne said.
        
        There were no immediate reports of injuries or structure damage, he said.