Ensign Peak fire evacuation order is lifted, with blaze 10% contained

The blaze that started Saturday on Ensign Peak was 10% contained Sunday evening, officials said, and Salt Lake City police later announced that an evacuation order in place for more than a day was lifted.

“Today we had really good success on the fire” after getting an early start, said Ryan LaFontaine, an operations trainee with the Northern Utah Type 3 Incident Management Team.

“If conditions on the fire stay the way they are and we don’t have any more flareups,” he said around 8 p.m., “we’ll be looking at potentially lifting that order at around 10 o’clock tonight.”

At 10 p.m., Salt Lake City police said in a statement that “after strong efforts by firefighting resources on the Sandhurst Fire, containment has been reached on the southern perimeter.

“Fire managers feel confident the fire will not progress further towards the community. Therefore, they have recommended lifting the evacuations for the fire.”

The decision “includes the mandatory evacuation order for residents north of Dorchester Drive, including Twickenham Drive,” the department said, “and the voluntary evacuation of the neighborhood west of East Capitol Boulevard and east of Victory Road.”

The command team is asking residents who return to “remain prepared to evacuate, if needed,” it added.

Overnight, LaFontaine said, “we will be staffing the fire with operations and a handful of engines just to maintain a presence and make sure we have folks, in case something does happen with the diurnal winds that are predicted later this evening.” Diurnal winds are related to the heating and cooling of terrain.

Morning crews will focus on bolstering the southern and eastern perimeters, he said, “trying to up our containment the best we can.” There were hotspots on the eastern side of the fire Sunday, he said, but crews were able to “hammer that pretty hard with the helicopters and the resources that we had on the fire.”

Firefighters on the west side of the fire were able to “secure a good chunk of the line” to the north, along the ridge line around the communications towers on Ensign Peak, and along the southern flank, he said.

LaFontaine and others who spoke at a media briefing posted online Sunday evening did not address the cause of the fire or the status of the investigation into what started it. But the Utah Fire Info website reported the fire was human-caused, without further details.

Police and fire officials continued to ask people to avoid the area. Trails remain closed on Ensign Peak, Tunnel Springs and on the section of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail nearest the fire.

Here’s how the fire and the fight to contain it have unfolded.

3 p.m. Sunday

With fire engines, helicopters and hand crews battling the fire, “I’m optimistic we’ll make progress on the fire and the fire will not grow in size,” Incident Commander Josh Lambert told reporters around 3 p.m. Sunday.

There’s been “minimal” smoke and fire spread on Sunday, he said. “Resources worked in from the perimeters, working with helicopters to eliminate heat,” Lambert explained.

“We have engines and crews and three helicopters kind of working in tandem to be able to just really pinpoint the areas that we want with a lot of heat, and really engage it and try and put it out,” added Brian Trick, public information officer for Northern Utah Type 3 Incident Management Team. “That’ll progress throughout tomorrow until we really feel that we’re confident.”

Firefighters want to make sure the perimeter is secure, Trick said, “and then we can slowly move in and get the internal heat.”

A total of 200 personnel are assigned to the Sandhurst Fire, Lambert said. No injuries have been reported, and night and day crews will continue to work to contain it.

The 204-acre fire is still considered zero percent contained, but that will be assessed this evening.

“We’re waiting through the afternoon work to assess containment,” Lambert said, adding: “We are going to reassess the evacuation status continuously with law enforcement.”

The cause is “still unknown at this time,” Trick said. “We’ve ordered an investigator. They’ve today arrived on scene ... but we haven’t heard back, so we are calling it unknown.”

11:50 a.m. Sunday

The size of the Sandhurst Fire has been updated, with the current estimate at approximately 204 acres, said Brian Trick, public information officer for Northern Utah Type 3 Incident Management Team.

The new number cuts the size in half from the 400-acre estimate Sunday morning. “This almost always happens as we get a better assessment and mapping resources on scene,” Trick said.

“Additionally, we have not confirmed the cause of the fire,” he emphasized. “It is still under investigation and unknown at this time.”

11 a.m. Sunday

Temperatures in the Salt Lake Valley are expected to rise to up to 100 degrees Sunday, with higher elevations hitting the lower 90s, according to the National Weather Service in Salt Lake City — with the wind gusting from the northeast, at about 15 mph.

Wind from that direction is favorable for firefighters at the Sandhurst Fire, said Brian Trick, public information officer for Northern Utah Type 3 Incident Management Team. That alignment may be enough to establish the fire back in the canyon, rather than seeing it spread, he said.

The wind may increase to about 20 mph, the weather service said. The direction of wind is expected to switch to northwest in the afternoon, and then return to the northeast in the evening.

“I would say as far as weather being favorable, the winds are much less than yesterday when we experienced rapid fire growth,” Trick said. “A combination of terrain fuels and weather made the fire grow the way it did yesterday. We still have the same fuels and topography, but the winds are much less.”

On the top of Ensign Peak before noon there appeared to be no active flames, with the land black and charred without smoke present.

A new estimate of the percentage of the fire that is contained is unlikely to come until at least 5 p.m., he said, as officials want to be sure about the fire’s progress.

9 a.m. Sunday

The evacuation order for 40 homes near the Sandhurst Fire will remain in place for now, and will be reevaluated this afternoon, operations trainee Ryan LaFontaine told reporters.

“As of three o’clock this morning, the fire laid down and hasn’t been very active,” he said. “There is some smoke visible right now but we’ve got crews that are making their way into those areas to see what we can do to secure it.”

Crews have seen “a very rapid spread in the fine flashy fuels, due to the high winds, topography and the dry vegetation,” he said, but the fire remains estimated at around 400 acres and is still under investigation.

“Currently we have roughly one hundred people assigned to the fire,” he said. “There are two hand crews and I believe eight engines assigned to the fire, and we have more that will be arriving today.”

He added: “We’re currently half a mile away from the homes, but there are cell towers and radio infrastructure along with some gas lines that are threatened on top of the fire.”

Containment efforts are likely to persist until Tuesday, said Brian Trick, public information officer for Northern Utah Type 3 Incident Management Team.

6:55 a.m. Sunday

The Sandhurst Fire near Ensign Peak was at zero percent containment as of Sunday morning, according to Brian Trick, public information officer for Northern Utah Type 3 Incident Management Team.

But it did not do significant damage overnight.

“It did incredibly well. We had resources on it all night,” Trick said. “Within the neighborhood as well as on the perimeter itself. So there was minimal fire activity through the night even though there were also strong winds pushing it around.”

On Sunday morning, winds in Salt Lake City are roughly 15 miles per hour, with gusts up to 22 mph.

The fire is approximately 400 acres in size and evacuation orders remain in place for roughly 40 homes above Sandhurst Drive. Officials are requesting that folks continue to stay out of the area.

Trick reported no injuries overnight.

The Northern Utah Interagency Type 3 Incident Management Team (IMT) is now the lead responding agency.

“The interagency team is here,” Trick said. “We have a plan of attack and we’ve got the resources we need. We’ll hit it hard this morning and hopefully put it to bed.”

11:41 p.m. Saturday

With winds gusting into the night, a Saturday wildfire on Ensign Peak remained uncontained and uncontrolled, officials said.

Still, as of 10:30 p.m., no injuries and no damage to any structures had been reported, the Salt Lake City Fire Department said. At about that time, Utah Fire Info said the size of the fire was estimated at 200 acres.

Command of the firefighting effort was transitioning from Salt Lake City to the Northern Utah Type 3 Incident Management Team, an interagency federal and state collaboration. Firefighters will work on the blaze overnight and air resources will return Sunday morning, Utah Fire Info reported.

Beginning Saturday afternoon, the fire spurred evacuations and threatened homes, radio towers and monuments. Just before 9 p.m. Saturday, Salt Lake City Fire Division Chief Bob Silverthorne had been somewhat optimistic, saying the towers were no longer under direct threat — although a mandatory evacuation order for 40 homes above Sandhurst Drive remained in place.

“I would say it’s contained,” Silverthorne said at that time, noting there were still “active flames in several areas.” He added: “We do have a good control of the fire. One thing that’s in our advantage is that the weather and the wind has mellowed out,” after a day that hit 100 degrees at Salt Lake City International Airport.

But an hour later, firefighters were reporting new challenges. “We’re responding to some of the changes; because of the weather changes, it isn’t really contained or controlled at this point,” Silverthorne said.

”The wind is kicking up, which is changing the fire behavior,“ he said. “It’s not getting out of hand, but we do have a slower progression.”

It’s unknown when the evacuation order will be lifted, he had said earlier. “Up until the mid hours tomorrow,” Silverthorne predicted then, “we’ll continue to do mop up, and check until everything is cold.”

The number of acres burned and the cause of the fire, which started a few minutes before 5 p.m., have not been definitively established, he said.

The Capitol was open for evacuees to shelter, the Salt Lake City police department said. “Take only the essential items you have ready,” an emergency alert urged. “Close & lock windows & doors as you leave.”

Evacuation is voluntary north of Ensign Vista along East Capitol to North Cove. The Salt Lake City Fire Department asks people to stay away from the general area. City Creek Canyon is closed, according to the Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities.

While the initial effort to fight the fire was “resource-starved,” Silverthorne said, “we spin up as fast as we can.” Early in the evening, he said there were 50 firefighters, two helicopters, a fixed wing aircraft and additional resources on scene. Later, he said the number of firefighters had doubled to 100.

At 7 p.m., Salt Lake City police said on X, formerly Twitter, that there were “multiple air units on scene and more en route to drop water on the fire.” Crews from the state, Salt Lake County, Summit County, Davis County and others had joined the effort.

Jacqueline Moulding said her parents were visiting her home on Edgecombe Drive and hurried back to their home on Chartwell Court as soon as they heard the evacuation notice.

“They’re running back home to get their checkbooks and passports and then they’re going to come back,” Moulding said Saturday evening, adding that she was worried about her house too, as homes on Dorchester were being evacuated.

Residents in the voluntary evacuation area stepped out of their homes to keep an eye on the smoke billowing over Ensign Peak. Some said they canceled plans for the evening, in case they need to leave.

“I just have a bag that’s packed and by the front door and my dog, and so if I need to go somewhere, I will,” said resident Stephanie Moyle.

Tish and David Lester, who also live in the voluntary evacuation area, were outside watching the progress of the fire. “For our neighbors and our friends that live up the hills, I mean, we’re worried for them and you know it doesn’t take much for a fire to jump,” Tish Lester said. ”This is the price we pay,” David Lester said, “for living in the area.”

As the evening progressed and smoke continued to flow out of the hills, some residents started loading packed bags and more cars made their way down the hill.

There’s a large camp on the hill above Victory Road and below Ensign Peak where unhoused people have been living, and it potentially could be affected by the fire.

“We’ve got crews on the ground that are addressing any threatened encampments to kind of see if there are people in those encampments to get them evacuated off of the hill,” he said.

Utah Fire Info first reported the blaze around 5 p.m. and later noted it has been named the Sandhurst Fire.

Correction • 8:30 p.m. July 20, 2024: Salt Lake City Fire Division Chief Bob Silverthorne described the fire and resources dedicated to fighting it. Some statements were previously attributed to another person.