Large fire burns at least 24 apartments, displaces 40 in Holladay area, with smoke seen for miles​on July 25, 2025 at 9:39 pm

A lawnmower ignited a large fire Friday afternoon that burned at least 24 apartments in two different buildings near the Millcreek-Holladay border.

​A lawnmower ignited a large fire Friday afternoon that burned at least 24 apartments in two different buildings near the Millcreek-Holladay border. Smoke could be seen for miles.  

A lawnmower ignited a large fire Friday afternoon that burned at least 24 apartments in two different buildings near the Millcreek-Holladay border.

The fire near 1300 East and 4800 South started shortly before 2 p.m., as a person mowed a nearby field, said Capt. Tony Barker with Unified Fire Authority, which led the massive response.

“There’s no grass over here, so they were obviously trying to mow the weeds down and it’s just a field, so I’m sure that their blade hit a rock, sparked something, and it just hit the brush and took off,” Barker said.

He said he didn’t immediately have more information about who was mowing. It also wasn’t immediately clear who owns the field where the fire originated.

Cars in at least one nearby carport also went up in flames. As of about 4 p.m., first responders were still accounting for people, including tracking down those who weren’t home when the fire ignited, Barker said.

Emily Anderson and her boyfriend, Marcos D’Amico, each lived in separate units in the buildings that caught fire. Anderson said she was asleep when the fire began.

“I heard a loud noise — kind of sounded like leaf blowers,” she recalled.

When she looked out her window, she saw flashes of pink, orange and red — what she believes were flames, though still bleary-eyed from sleep. As she opened her apartment door, she saw people running and screaming to evacuate.

Anderson grabbed her dogs and found someone outside to hold them, then ran to D’Amico’s apartment to help him. Together, they got both of their dogs and two cats out. But one cat panicked and jumped from Anderson’s arms.

“We’re missing her,” she said. “We’re going to keep looking as soon as they let us.”

Anderson, who has lived in the complex for two years, said the fire left them with nothing.

“Everything’s gone,” she said, adding that all of her son’s belongings were in the apartment as well. “I don’t think that we’re going to be living here anymore.”

Another woman who briefly spoke with The Tribune before taking a phone call said she was forced to leave her pets behind during the rushed evacuation, a decision that left her distraught.

As of Friday afternoon, firefighters said it was unclear if anyone had been injured.

Matt Stevens, with Utah’s chapter of the American Red Cross, said the agency was still working to identify everyone in need of aid early Friday evening as they assisted displaced residents.

In addition to the those displaced by the two buildings that caught fire, Stevens said the Red Cross is also helping people from two evacuated buildings nearby that had their utilities shut off.

“What we’ve heard is best case scenario, in the next six hours, they can get those utilities back on, and there’s a possibility that the folks in those two buildings can return tonight,” Stevens said.

Barker said a total of 79 people were evacuated from the four buildings. Of those, 39 are expected to return tonight to the two buildings where utilities were shut off. The remaining 40 are permanently displaced and cannot return, he said.

Stevens said The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Eastridge Ward meetinghouse is currently allowing displaced residents to stay there and planned to hold a closed meeting at 7:15 p.m. for affected residents to assess immediate needs. The church has offered to serve as a shelter indefinitely if need be, he said.

“Right now, we’ve got probably 10 to 15 people that are in there right now with no place to go,” Stevens said. “Down the street, there’s the St. Vincent de Paul [Parish] School, and so we think that there might be some people over there, so we’re trying to round everybody up and bring them over.”

Smoke from the fire could be seen for miles as dozens and dozens of firefighters responded Friday. Traffic in the immediate area was temporarily shut down as crews worked to control the blaze, which was largely contained by Friday evening.