SportClips in Sugar House reopens after massive apartment fire
Nov 29, 2022, 10:05 PM | Updated: 10:29 pm
SALT LAKE CITY — It all sounded the same, even looked the same. But the workers of a Sugar House SportClips sure have quite a different story than workers at most haircut shops.
“I was getting a little antsy,” said Angie Arrien, who works at the SportClips. “I was excited to get back to work because it was a little over a month that we were down.”
Right across from their building is the reason why.
Over 1K evacuated as crews fight 4-alarm fire at under-construction SLC building
After seeing what was left of the burned apartment complex, Arrien knew going back to work was going to be a bit.
“You would never think that that would happen right next door,” she said. “It is a lot more scary than it is, like, in pictures. So, it’s crazy.”
What’s even crazier is all that heat and debris from the fire didn’t do anything to their SportClips.
“We did not have any damage, which was great, but it was also frustrating because it was like, we’re ready to go,” said Shere Brunjes.
Brunjes owns the store and said because she was located in the fall zone of the burned building, and that building wasn’t stable, she had to stay closed. That lasted for 33 days, until she was allowed to re-open Tuesday.
“I’m so relieved to be back open, you know? It’s just been a long time coming,” she said with a laugh.
It's been quite the month for the workers at this SportClips in Sugar House. They've been closed since the big fire next door. Tonight they're finally back to work. We're doing a story with them for @KSL5TV at 10. #ksltv pic.twitter.com/Fx8kQJPy45
— Alex Cabrero (@KSL_AlexCabrero) November 30, 2022
Through it all, Brunjes continued to pay her workers. She even let them work at her two other shops and do paid training to keep their skills sharp.
“It was the right thing to do, and we value our people. They’re the reason why we have any kind of success,” she said.
Brunjes is also offering haircut discounts to first responders as a way to thank them for their work fighting the fire and keeping the area safe while demolition work began.
Other businesses that are still closed have plans to begin re-opening next week.
The cause of the fire is still being investigated.
