A fire in Ensign Peak threatens the radio towers

A new fire on Ensign Peak is prompting evacuations and threatening homes, radio towers and monuments, according to fire agencies, and helicopters are hauling water from Memory Grove to help put out the flames.

Mandatory evacuations were ordered on Sandhurst Drive, north of Dorchester Drive, including Twickenham Drive, according to Salt Lake City police. The Capitol is now open for shelter evacuations, the department said.

“Take only the essential items you have ready,” an emergency alert urged. “Close and lock windows and doors when you leave.”

Jacqueline Molding said her parents were visiting her home on Edgecombe Drive and rushed back to their home on Chartwell Court as soon as they heard the eviction notice.

“They’re running home to get their checkbooks and passports and then they’ll come back,” Molding said, adding that she, too, is worried about her home now that homes in Dorchester are being evacuated.

Fifty firefighters, two helicopters, a fixed-wing aircraft and additional resources are battling the “large brush fire above the Capitol,” said Salt Lake City Police Capt. Davin Halvorsen. The fire started around 4:51 p.m. and spread quickly, he said.

The police go house to house, knock on doors to ask people to leave. The evacuation is currently voluntary north of Ensign Vista along East Capitol to North Cove, according to the emergency alert.

The Salt Lake City Fire Department is asking people to stay away from the area. City Creek Canyon is closed due to the fire, according to the Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities.

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

“We operate under a unified command to help protect lives and property,” the department said.

The Sandhurst subdivision is being evacuated, along with homes east of the fire area, Utah Fire Info said on X. It estimated the size of the fire at more than 10 acres. In addition to the towers, several structures and the City Creek watershed are under threat, it said.

The cause is unknown, Utah Fire Info said. He first reported the fire at around 5pm and later noted it was called the Sandhurst fire.