SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake City leadership confirmed Monday that the city "owns and operates" the land where a fire started on Friday that later spread to a nearby Millcreek apartment complex and destroyed 24 units.
In a statement Monday, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall also explained how the land is used as a maintenance yard that houses several groundwater wells, which are part of the Salt Lake Valley's drinking water supply.
"A large portion of the property houses groundwater wells that are part of our drinking supply and kept in a natural state," explained Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities Director Laura Briefer on Monday. "So… we do maintain that property, and I know we have had complaints, and I’m looking into that."
Salt Lake City said there was no threat to the drinking water supply.
The land sits just west of 1300 East and south of Murray Holladay Road.
Millcreek officials thankful for overwhelming support after apartment fire:
Friday's fire is believed to have been sparked by someone mowing or tending to overgrown weeds on the Salt Lake City property. Millcreek Mayor Jeff Silvestrini acknowledged that Salt Lake City had received a courtesy notice from the city of Millcreek's code enforcement team before the fire.
City of Millcreek sent courtesy notice below to SLC about overgrown weeds:
"What they issued was a courtesy notice to the property owner to get the weeds mowed down," said Silvestrini on Monday. "Salt Lake Public Utilities was at least responsive to our courtesy notice and was out trying to take care of the problem. It was unfortunate that it was a windy day and the lawnmower sparked the fire."
Kris Widner, who lives in another apartment complex that borders the area that caught fire, said she also had concerns about the tall, dry weeds.
"They were trying to mow them down, and I heard them going over the rocks with a big tractor and those metal blades, so I moved my patio cushions in since it was all dusty, and the next time I looked outside, it was in flames," Widner shared.
Raw drone video below shows devastation of Millcreek fire:
Mendenhall and Briefer confirmed that the city is cooperating with fire investigators to determine the cause of the blaze that displaced dozens of residents from the Willow Glen Apartments.
“First and foremost, I’m incredibly grateful there were no serious injuries associated with this fire, but my thoughts are with the families who are now facing the heartbreak of losing their homes,” wrote Mendenhall. “I also want to thank first responders from the Unified Fire Department, the City of Murray, the City of South Salt Lake, Salt Lake City, and others who helped quickly evacuate the Willow Glen apartments, put out the fire as quickly as possible, and protected so many lives in the process.”
