Authorities are searching for the cause of a Sunday fire at a Salt Lake City warehouse, a building that includes murals of people killed by police and has become a community gathering spot during protests and the continuing debate over racism and police violence.
The blaze left one man seriously injured.
The man, who was not identified, suffered severe burns on his arms and legs and was transported to a hospital, according to the Salt Lake City Fire Department.
Witnesses reported smoke coming from the empty warehouse at 320 W. 800 South at about 7:30 p.m. When firefighters arrived, they extinguished the blaze and found the burned man inside.
There was some unspecified damage inside the warehouse, which is owned by Salt Lake City. The murals on the exterior walls were undamaged.
The paintings started with George Floyd, the Black man whose slow death was captured on camera as a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
Anonymous artists who painted the image of Floyd’s face in pink and red hues then added Bernardo Palacios-Carbajal, fatally shot May 23 by Salt Lake City police, and have continued to memorialize other Utahns killed by police.
