Salt Lake City owns multiple parcels of land on the west side of Millcreek, which has had to repeatedly urge the capital city to better maintain its land over the years, said Millcreek Mayor Jeff Silvestrini.
The July 25 fire that destroyed two buildings and displaced 40 people at Willow Glen Apartments in Millcreek began on one of Salt Lake City’s properties, where high weeds were violating city code and a worker was mowing them.
“There have been other times where we’ve had to request that they cut the weeds on those properties, not just the one where the fire caught, but also, there’s properties that are closer to 900 East in that same vicinity,” Silvestrini said.
That neglect puts Millcreek in an uncomfortable position, forcing it to inform another municipal government that it is violating city code, he said.
“We want to maintain a good relationship with them, but we also want them to maintain their properties so that they don’t cause problems for us,” Silvestrini said.
Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall on Tuesday ordered a “maintenance audit” of all city-owned property in the wake of the destructive fire in Millcreek.
Her spokesperson, Andrew Wittenberg, said that the audit will include creating a report about the general condition of such properties to identify those that may need maintenance.
“Every department in the city which owns or is responsible for the maintenance of property both in Salt Lake City boundaries and outside city boundaries is to assess the conditions of the property under their purview,” Wittenberg wrote in a statement to The Salt Lake Tribune.
Silvestrini said a maintenance audit seems like a “good idea” to help the city stay on top of its property upkeep.
“And, you know, hopefully keep a better eye on this and mow it more frequently,” he said. “Maybe it would be a good idea to not mow it on a virtual red flag day.”
Salt Lake City had previously violated Millcreek city code with high weeds, in 2022, according to records released by Millcreek Monday evening. That year, a resident had reported that overgrown trees were creating a safety risk for drivers.
A day after Millcreek received a complaint about the weeds on July 21, a city code inspector wrote that he “arrived at the property and found that two abutting parcels owned by Salt Lake City have overgrown weed violations present.”
He sent notices of the violations — one for each parcel — to Salt Lake City on July 22. Fire officials have said a worker mowing the city-owned land sparked the blaze three days later.
‘Natural’ land holds historic wells
Salt Lake City owns more than 30 acres in that area of Millcreek, said Laura Briefer, director of Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities.
The property is managed by Salt Lake City’s public utilities department, and serves as a maintenance yard that houses several groundwater wells, which have been in place since the 1930s, she said.
These wells are part of the drinking water system that serves nearly 400,000 residents across Salt Lake City, Millcreek, Holladay, Cottonwood Heights and portions of some surrounding communities.
As a precaution, Briefer said, the wells have been temporarily shut off to prevent potential contamination while the city assesses whether the fire caused any damage to infrastructure.
Because of its role in the water supply, the site is treated as a natural area and does not receive the same level of upkeep as a manicured park, Briefer said.
“We have public utilities workers out there every day, and our crews were there on Friday,” Briefer said. “They finished all of their maintenance work scheduled for the day, and decided that they would use the rest of the time to do some maintenance at the property, including mowing any weeds.”
The workers were not aware of Millcreek’s notices about the weed violations, she said, because they were “still in transit to the appropriate people in our department.”
The code inspector’s report said he mailed and emailed notices of the violations to Salt Lake City on July 22. He also called the city to ask who should receive his notices, and said he directed his email to the real estate services department, as instructed.
Briefer said Salt Lake City workers are on the site daily. They routinely mow and perform vegetation management, she said. “I think the last time they did it was earlier this summer, later in the spring,” she said.
Asked why the weeds had grown high enough to prompt the complaint and violations, Briefer said in an interview Monday that she was uncertain how high the weeds were.
The Millcreek inspector had photographed the unkept site during his visit. The Tribune obtained the photos and his report through an open records request.
(Millcreek) This field of weeds, which were ignited when mowed, led to a fire on July 25 that destroyed 24 apartment units in Millcreek. The two parcels were owned by Salt Lake City and inspected by a Millcreek code compliance inspector less than a week before they caught fire. In his report, he said he saw "overgrown weed violations" and sent the city a courtesy notice and would reinspect on Aug. 6.
Briefer said Salt Lake City is awaiting the results of the Unified Fire Authority’s investigation into the July 25 fire, which destroyed 24 apartment units. UFA Assistant Chief Zachary Robinson told The Tribune Monday that the investigation isn’t expected to wrap up for a few weeks.
Both Millcreek and Salt Lake City codes state that weeds are not allowed to reach a height of more than six inches.
“I think this is something that we’ll have further discussions about with them when things settle down a little bit,” Silvestrini said. “Our interest is in making sure they do a better job of maintaining that property.”
Silvestrini said Millcreek is open to working with Salt Lake City to find solutions that prevent future code violations.
In a July 21 email to Millcreek’s code compliance inspector, District 2 City Council member Thom DeSirant had relayed a resident’s complaint that weeds and grass on the property were overgrown. DeSirant said he received a text that the field is typically mowed and cleared a few times each summer, but that maintenance hadn’t occurred this year, creating a fire hazard.
(Millcreek) This field of weeds, which were ignited when mowed, led to a fire on July 25 that destroyed 24 apartment units in Millcreek. The two parcels were owned by Salt Lake City and inspected by a Millcreek code compliance inspector less than a week before they caught fire. In his report, he said he saw "overgrown weed violations" and sent the city a courtesy notice and would reinspect on Aug. 6.
When asked whether there are any city policies regarding mowing in extreme, dry heat, Briefer said she is not aware of any such policies but noted that precautions should be taken when using equipment in high temperatures.
“I’m not aware of anything written about the conditions in which we operate equipment,” Briefer said. “There’s best practice and judgment at play, for sure. I really think that, you know, just a broader public safety message around awareness of the volatility of vegetation right now in such dry conditions is really important.”
Donations have poured in
The Millcreek City Council on Monday approved an allocation of $11,000 in emergency funds for the 40 residents displaced in the fire. In addition to those city funds, $41,000 in public donations have poured in, said Silvestrini.
Millcreek plans to distribute checks of roughly $2,300 to each impacted household starting Tuesday.
Silvestrini said Salt Lake City officials have not offered to collect donations for the displaced residents, but he appreciates that the city mentioned Millcreek’s donation portal in a news release.
Wittenberg said Tuesday, before Mendenhall’s announcement, that she would not comment on whether the capital city plans to join the donation efforts or on city policies for maintaining its properties, including mowing during dry, hot windy days.
Wittenberg said in a text that she will not comment beyond a statement released Monday by city officials, citing the ongoing investigation. Mendenhall said in that statement that her “thoughts are with the families” and thanked the responders.
The funds being distributed by Milcreek will go toward 22 occupied apartment units, as one unit was unoccupied and another resident chose to donate their portion to others in need.
“I know this is not typical for cities to make this kind of a disbursement,” Silvestrini said at Monday’s City Council meeting. “This is just a situation where these folks lost everything on short notice, at really no fault of their own.”
People have donated household goods at City Hall since the fire, Silvestrini said, and the sixth floor is now filled with items that displaced residents can browse and take what they need.
Donations at Millcreek City Hall to help support displaced residents who lost their homes in the fire that destroyed two apartment buildings on July 25, 2025. (Samantha Moilanen | The Salt Lake Tribune)