PHOTOS: A lawnmower hit a rock, igniting the massive apartment fire that left nearly 80 people displaced. Just after 1:30 p.m. on July 25, an investigator with Unified Fire Authority’s Special Enforcement Division responded to reports of a grass fire near 4988 South 1300 East.
The fire started on property owned by Salt Lake City and burned north, into the Willow Glen Apartments. According to UFA, two Salt Lake City employees were at the scene โ one mowing the lawn โ when the fire started.
The first employee said he was operating a Kubota tractor with a mower on the south side of the property when he struck a rock. He said he raised the mower deck, moved the tractor forward, and continued working. After making another pass, he noticed a fire in the same area where the rock had been struck.
He immediately stopped, retrieved a fire extinguisher from the tractor, and attempted to put the fire out, but the fire extinguisher did not work. He called out to his site manager for assistance, who grabbed two more fire extinguishers from his office. At this point, the flames were about ten feet high.
Those fire extinguishers did not work either. He drove to another location to grab two more, but those also did not work. He then called 911, but by this time, the flames had reached the trees, and, aided by the wind, jumped across the road to the north toward the apartments.
