MIDVALE, Utah — The day after a fire ripped through a Midvale apartment complex, displacing hundreds of residents, officials shared information on what may have started the incident.
Crews were called to the North Union Apartments just before 8 a.m. Friday after reports of smoke being seen on the roof. When firefighters arrived, they observed the smoke but no flames. However, the fire grew, and flames were seen coming from the fourth floor of the building, along with heavy smoke.
On Saturday, the Unified Fire Authority said the potential cause of the fire was mechanical, and that it started in the roof above the building's sprinkler system and spread to the trash shoot and ventilation system.
It will be a few more days before people will be allowed inside the building due to safety issues.
Drone video below shows widespread damage from apartment fire:
Because of the building's size, the fire posed numerous challenges in the battle for containment, and firefighters were pulled from inside as it became unsafe.
"I just woke up to the really loud fire alarm. Literally just grabbed my cats and left," a resident told FOX 13 News. "You always think it's probably not real, but I feel like I smelled a faint smell of smoke in the stairs."
Evacuations of the building's 220 occupied units were ordered, with evacuees first being directed to nearby Hillcrest High School for shelter. However, the A/C units at the school went down, and the American Red Cross has opened a new shelter at Fort Union Middle School at 615 East 8000 South in Sandy.
"Today has been a heartbreaking day for our community," said Midvale City Mayor Dustin Gettel. "Our hearts are with every resident and family affected by this devastating apartment fire."
One firefighter was treated at the scene for heat exhaustion and released.
Fire officials give briefing on apartment fire in video below:
According to Salt Lake County records, the North Union Apartments were constructed in 2022, and before the fire, had a market value of almost $60 million. Many wanted to know how a four-year-old building, presumably with modern designs and a suppression system, could burn so badly.
Srishti Banerji is an assistant professor in the structural engineering program at Utah State University, and while she could not speak to what happened in Midvale, she shared how fire can still be a threat.
"Roofs, slabs, beams, columns, stairwells, they should all last for somewhere between one hour to three hours so that the building does not collapse and everybody can escape," Banerji explained. "Again, the focus is on safe evacuation rather than making the modern buildings indestructible.”
While a trash chute fire is considered to be one of the causes of the fire, its exact cause has yet to be determined and won't be until investigators can get inside the building.
