This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Salt Lake City fire crews quickly doused a fast-moving brush fire in the Avenues Tuesday afternoon.
The blaze started at around 1:30 p.m. near 699 N. I Street, according to fire department spokesman Jasen Asay.
Asay said that because of high winds and the elevated area, the fire spread quickly and threatened four homes, which were briefly evacuated.
"With the wind pushing it, it was a dangerous situation," he said.
No one was injured in the fire. The exterior of one home was damaged by the fire's heat, and a second received smoke damage, Asay said.
Investigators were trying to determine what caused the blaze. Because of the high winds, they said they suspected electrical utilities might be involved.
Asay said the fire department encourages residents to maintain their lawns, trim their bushes and trees and create a defensable space with no vegetation around their home to keep brush fires like this from causing more damage.
"It's only April and we're already getting outside fires," he said. "It's going to be a dry summer. So this is a warning for the residents of not only Salt Lake City but all of Utah that there is a great fire potential ... It looks like [fires] are going to spread quickly."
Twitter: @jm_miller