SOUTH SALT LAKE, Utah — Hundreds of people, including inmates, have been evacuated after a fire at the Salt Lake County Metro Jail prompted a large response from emergency crews on Thursday morning.
The fire broke out just after 10:30 a.m. on the roof of the facility where maintenance was being performed on an HVAC unit at the jail.
"There was a subcontractor up there doing some repair work on the HVAC system, and it created a spark that started a fire. We were noticing smoke in one of the units, and that's how we were made aware of the fire," explained Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera.
"The fire was able to get between the membrane structure and reach some insulation which was burning," added South Salt Lake Fire Chief Terry Addison. "Crews had to remove some of the insulation and the membrane in order to ensure that the fire did not continue to spread
Emergency protocols were immediately activated, which included moving prisoners to other units at the jail where they were evaluated by medical personnel. No inmates were evacuated outside of the jail, but just to other areas.
Because of the fire, the jail was placed under lockdown protocols.
Officials give full briefing below on Salt Lake County Jail fire:
Multiple crews from the Salt Lake area responded and were able to put out the fire and stop it from spreading further. Rivera said the damage was a lot less than expected and confined mostly to water damage.
No one from the jail was injured during the fire, which is now under investigation.
"It could have been much worse," said Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson. "It wasn't because everyone responded quickly, appropriately and frankly, our communication was very strong, and I think that's really critical, especially when you look at multiple agencies responding."
Booking at the jail was suspended for approximately two hours during the fire, but the jail has since returned to normal operations.
"This was a big deal today," said Rivera, "but the way it was handled, I'm very impressed not just with my staff from the sheriff's office, but all of the fire departments that responded were very grateful for their services."
