The massive fire at the planned site of the Residences at Sugar Alley that first ignited late Oct. 25 and continued to burn for nearly a week has been extinguished, fire officials confirmed Tuesday.
More than 100 fire personnel routinely responded to the site over the course of six days as flames continued to flare up, Salt Lake City Fire Capt. Shaun Mumedy said. Now, only police officers and demolition experts remain at the scene, but Mumedy said fire officials could return if a hotspot reignites.
The blaze at the unoccupied, partially constructed building resulted in no injures, but residents of adjacent apartment buildings were evacuated in the early hours of Oct. 26 as a precaution. They remained displaced for days amid continued firefighting efforts.
Residents of those nearby complexes — including The Vue at Sugar House Crossing, and Sugarmont Apartments — were permitted to return to their units on Monday, but some nearby businesses on Highland Drive remained closed.
“We feel like it’s a safe enough area for construction crews to handle on their own,” Mumedy said Tuesday.
He said those crews understand the inherent risks of possible deep-seated, smoldering embers, “so if they come across those, they’ve been instructed to give us a call and we can certainly address that.”
(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) Partially-collapsed scaffolding after a fire in a partially constructed apartment complex continues to burn in Sugar House on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2022. The fire, which started late Oct. 25, has since been extinguished.
Any residents whose adjacent apartments sustained damage — like exterior scorching from the blaze or water damage from nearby fire suppression efforts — were referred to disaster cleanup companies used by SLCFD. Neither The Vue nor Sugarmont officials immediately responded to a request for more information about whether any residents remain displaced due to such damage.
The cause of the massive blaze in the heart of Sugar House’s main business district remains a mystery. Federal agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives continue to assist local authorities in investigating how and why it first ignited.
Mumedy said it marked the “third or fourth” massive fire like this he has responded to over his 16-year career.
“If you look around the city and the valley here, how much construction we’re doing, these things are extremely rare,” he said of fires like the one that swallowed much of the Sugar Alley development. He noted new construction builds are generally safe.
It is unclear how long it will take for construction crews to complete demolition of the building’s gutted remains. A California-based spokesperson affiliated with Lowe Property Group, the Salt Lake City developers behind Sugar Alley, said last week that the developers intend to rebuild the apartment and retail complex.
As of Tuesday afternoon, air quality in the immediate vicinity of the former fire site was considered “good,” according to a Salt Lake air quality map. Officials had initially warned people in the early days of the blaze to wear N95 or better quality masks in the area due to smoke concerns.
A damage estimate on the fire’s destruction was not immediately available.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) A partially constructed complex continues to smolder and occasionally ignite near 1040 E. 2220 South in Sugar House in Salt Lake City on Thursday Oct. 27, 2022. The fire, which started late Oct. 25, has since been extinguished.
