A new wildfire sparked Saturday above Red Butte Garden on the University of Utah campus in Salt Lake City and grew to 200 acres by the evening.
Crews were called about 6 p.m. to the fire in the area of 1950 E. Circle of Hope Dr. on the east side of the university. The fire is moving slowly to the south, though it remains north of Red Butte Canyon Road, according to a post on X by the Salt Lake City Fire Department.
A campus alert went out to University of Utah students asking them to shelter in place at 9:30 p.m., after a previous alert advised students to stay inside as smoke affected the east side of campus, though U. Health facilities remained operational, the alert said.
Kathy Willets, University of Utah Health spokeswoman, said the facility wasn’t evacuating but is in “divert” mode, meaning ambulances and vehicles are being diverted to other hospitals.
“So far, all of our staff are working together; these are the kinds of things we train for all the time, so we’ve been asked to stay in place … there’s not great to our buildings at this time,” she said.
“A lot of people can smell smoke in the building, so they’re trying to calm the patients … but care is moving forward as usual, and we’re just cooperating with police and fire as they manage the situation,” she said.
No structures are directly threatened, Salt Lake City fire spokesman Chad Jepperson said, though the Red Butte structure and canyon remain under voluntary evacuations.
The department earlier Saturday also asked the public to evacuate the parking lot at the Jewish Community Center so that state and federal firefighters could continue to battle the blaze.
Neighborhoods in the area are not threatened, as winds are expected to continue to shift southwest down the mountain, according to firefighters.
Firefighters urge people not to fly drones in the area.
Contributing: Alex Tumalip