Large brush fire sparks in Millcreek


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KEY TAKEAWAYS
  • A large brush fire erupted in Millcreek near Parleys Canyon on Monday evening.
  • Firefighters faced challenges due to steep terrain and limited water supply resources.
  • No structures are threatened but one firefighter sustained a non-fire-related knee injury.

SALT LAKE CITY — Fire crews responded to a large brush fire in Millcreek on I-80 near the mouth of Parleys Canyon on Monday evening.

Utah Fire Info said the Millcreek Fire is estimated to be 15 acres. Unified Fire said no structures are currently threatened.

The state's fire resource stated the fire was moving east, and crews were having a hard time fighting it because it was in a steep gully.

Crews were also having issues with water supply, said Nate Cochran with Unified Fire.

"Naturally, in the grass fires there's no hydrants or anything like that. So we did have to call in some additional water tenders just to have water support," he said.

Millcreek City officials said in a Facebook post that the fire was burning in Parley Historic Nature Park. The post stated there was a small chance the fire could jump the freeway, but it wasn't likely.

Brendan O'Fallon, who lives nearby and often walks his dogs in the area, said it seemed "ready to burn."

"There's so much dry, dead wood all around," he said. "And so I think it was only a matter of time until it really happened."

O'Fallon said this brush fire is not the first one he and his wife have seen in the past few weeks.

"We had a really close call just a week or two ago," he said. "There was a kind of a brush fire started over here near the substation."

He said the fire got very close to his backyard, even damaging his fence.

"My wife and I were literally up here on the deck with a garden hose trying to fight it off until the firefighters and policemen showed up and kicked us out," he said.

Unified Fire said one firefighter injured his knee while battling the flames, but the injury was not related to the fire.

According to Utah Fire Info, ground and air resources were responding to the scene. The public is asked to avoid the area.

It is the second significant fire in the area in just under a month.

This story will be updated. To be notified about updates, please click Follow This Story below on the KSL app.

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The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.

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Devin Oldroyd
Shelby Lofton, KSLShelby Lofton
Shelby comes to Utah after working for three years at WKYT, the CBS affiliate in Lexington, Kentucky. There, she was the weekend anchor and reporter. During her time in the Commonwealth, Shelby covered the 2021 Western Kentucky tornadoes. She was honored to share the stories of resilience there and help pay tribute to the victims. She was struck by the generosity of the people who jumped in to help with clean up and recovery efforts. Her favorite stories to tell are ones that highlight humanity coming together and using their strengths to make a real difference. Shelby also had the privilege of covering The Kentucky Derby twice. She was named Rookie of the Year by the Kentucky Broadcasters Association in 2020. Shelby is a proud graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism. In college, she worked at KOMU-TV, the NBC affiliate in Columbia, Missouri. She was fortunate to try out a lot of jobs behind the camera, but reporting is where her heart is. Shelby was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She grew up taking road trips up and down the west coast. She loves traveling and has visited 10 countries. When she’s not in the newsroom or out reporting in the field, Shelby enjoys catching up on documentaries, listening to podcasts, dining at different hotspots, cheering on Mizzou sports and hiking Utah’s many beautiful trails.
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