MILLCREEK, Utah — A week before a fire destroyed two dozen Millcreek apartments, a resident had complained to a Salt Lake City official about overgrown weeds in the field where the fire started, leading to the city being cited, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.
Raw drone video below shows devastation of Millcreek fire:
According to Millcreek City Council member Thom DeSirant, the resident was upset about the weeds in the field south of the Willow Glen Apartments that were consumed by the fire, leaving dozens of people homeless.
DiSirant shared the complaint with his city's code compliance office, which issued the citation to Salt Lake City. The fire is believed to have been started by a lawnmower being used in the area where the citation was focused.
City of Millcreek sent courtesy notice below to SLC about overgrown weeds:
The Salt Lake Tribune reached out to both a spokesperson for Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall, who did not respond, and the Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities, which stated that they could not comment due to the fire's start being an ongoing investigation.
According to the report, Millcreek said its employees were being kept busy with complaints about weeds that had grown over the city's maximum height of 6 inches. The report added that Millcreek "routinely issues notices to landowners to maintain overgrown properties, for both fire safety and appearance reasons."
Millcreek community rallies together after fire, and how you can help:
In the immediate aftermath of the fire, over 70 people were left homeless as officials closed access so they could assess the damage to the apartment complex. Most of those displaced lost everything in the blaze that quickly moved from the nearby field to the row of apartments.
"It was orange and red. It looked fake. It looked like a scene from a movie. It just didn't look real. It still doesn't feel real," said resident Emily Anderson.
