Slow-moving fire causes lockdown at LDS Hospital


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SALT LAKE CITY -- A smoky fire put LDS Hospital into a lockdown situation Thursday evening.

Firefighters had been called out earlier in the day but couldn't find a fire. Then they were called back around 5 p.m. with more reports of smoke.

The hospital went into a lockdown -- which means anyone could leave, but no one could go in.

Firefighters search for source of smoke on the upper floors of LDS Hospital
Firefighters search for source of smoke on the upper floors of LDS Hospital

"I just saw a bunch of fire trucks, and they won't let you in," said Eagle Mountain resident Felix Perez, who was at the hospital.

A contractor was working on the ninth floor and was cutting through five inches of concrete. He used a cutting torch to get through some rebar and caught some insulation on fire.

"We believe that possibly a spark or heat from the torch got into the insulation, and it was cause for a very slow-moving, smoldering type of fire in the insulation," explained Scott Freitag, spokesman for the Salt Lake City Fire Department.

There were no evacuations, and a spokesman for LDS Hospital says patients were never in any danger.

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