sLake City authorities have ordered residents to evacuate some areas ahead of a wildfire as more than 100 firefighters work to contain the blaze.
Helicopters and planes dropped buckets onto the flames Saturday as ground crews tried to contain the fire at Ensign Peak.
The first fire crew was dispatched around 4:30 p.m. and more than six different emergency agencies joined the effort to stop the blaze, Division Chief Bob Silverthorne of the Salt Lake City Fire Department said at a news conference.
The fire department ordered a mandatory evacuation of an area of 40 homes on Sandhurst Drive, north of Dorchester Drive, and the police department was going to individual homes to notify residents. Other areas were being voluntarily evacuated, Silverthorne said.
There were no immediate reports of injuries or structural damage, he said.
Authorities did not know the exact cause or origin of the wildfire and could not immediately provide the area involved or the percentage that was contained by firefighters, he said.
The area’s heat and wind prevented a clear determination of where the fire would spread, but the conditions could result in a “rapid fire” that prompted authorities to issue early warnings, he said.
A building at the Utah Capitol, located about 1.2 miles from Ensign Peak, was being used as a safe haven for those who evacuated and wanted to escape the heat outside, Silverthorne said.
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