Several Businesses Damaged In 3-Alarm Fire At Midvale Office Building

MIDVALE, Utah – A massive fire at a business complex in Midvale had firefighters busy nearly the entire day trying to get it under control.

The incident happened at Union Center Plaza, in the area of 7000 South and 900 East.

“Upon arrival, there was light smoke showing from the roof,” said Ryan Love, public information officer for Unified Fire Authority.

Fire crews were on scene at 9 a.m. Sunday and spent well into the evening battling, then assessing the damage. 

The three-alarm fire started on the top floor of the office building and spread across the north side.

“You know, I was looking forward to just having a better year, having everyone look up after corona,” said Ida Baghoomian, co-owner of the complex.

The new year did not start off well for the 15 businesses inside the building.

“Tomorrow is a new day,” said Ida.

Ida’s brother Mike co-owns the property.

They said it didn’t seem real when they heard smoke could be seen from their building 10 miles away.

Multiple fire departments responded to the call.

The fire grew so fast – it was too dangerous for crews to be inside.

“We put firefighters inside and got to the second floor where the fire was. It was simply too hot for us to continue, so we moved all our fighters to outside,” said Love.

They worked throughout the day, knocking down flames from outside.

“Half of the building is pretty much okay,” said Ida. “We just have a lot of work to do on the northern half of the building.”

The complex has been in their family for decades.

The siblings said they never imaged this would happen to their tenants.

“My heart goes out to them,” she said. “In one single act, your entire business and livelihood is gone, and I don’t know how I can make up for that.”

The cause of the blaze was being investigated.

Firefighters said they will be at the office building throughout Sunday evening and into the early hours Monday morning to make sure everything stays under control.