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Firefighters warn of red flag conditions after passing train sparks brush fire in Salt Lake City

Posted at 6:45 AM, Jul 11, 2019
and last updated 2019-07-11 09:46:51-04

SALT LAKE CITY -- A rail line is open again Thursday after a fire sparked by a passing train forced a closure Wednesday night.

Fire officials said sparks from a passing train ignited a patch of brush near 3700 West and 800 South around 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Firefighters shut down the Union Pacific rail lines in the area so they could access the area and extinguish the fire, which they were able to do quickly.

Capt. Chad Yamane, Salt Lake City Fire, said they are preparing for more fires this summer as temperatures climb and vegetation continues to dry out.

"We're in red flag warnings now with the high winds, the high heat, low humidity," he said. "Had this happened earlier we probably would have had that structure threatened a lot more with the high winds, but we don't have any winds right now. "

The fire did not threaten any structures and burned about 1/4 of an acre.