VIDEO/PHOTOS: Crews with the Salt Lake City Fire Department responded to a grass fire near Ensign Peak on Wednesday evening. Firefighters quickly controlled the flames and remained at the scene for about an hour to mop up. Premraj Julian, a former resident, was at the scene when the fire “took off on its own in the middle of the field.” “It was moving so slow, that you feel kind of safe,โ he said. โBut then, when we tried to run out, it was really hot, and the flames were really hot. Everything was on fire,” Julian said.
He called in the fire. He and his friends were eventually able to escape after firefighters arrived. “You guys just run down right behind me,โ a firefighter with a hose told Julian. “This is a popular area for people to come view,โ Julian said. โJust to see it take off that fast, that was kind of scary.” Almost just as fast as it started, firefighters were able to get a handle on the flames. Crews said it took about 20 minutes to get the fire under control and then another 20 to fully extinguish it.
“I don’t think there’s been a year that I can recall that I haven’t had a fire in this general area,โ said Captain Chad Jepperson with the Salt Lake City Fire Department. Jepperson said the conditions make the foothills very easy to catch on fire. But thankfully, this time those conditions were in their favor. “The cloud cover came in and started to cool it down a little bit,โ Jepperson said. โHad those situations been a little bit different, we would’ve had quite a different scenario.”
