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Downtown Salt Lake City fire damages several businesses; city offers emergency loans
Summary
An unidentified speaker said a downtown fire damaged longtime restaurants and bars, thanked firefighters and mutual‑aid partners, and announced the city's economic development team will offer emergency no‑interest loans and outreach to affected owners and employees.
An unidentified speaker said a fire that broke out overnight caused "a tragic loss for Salt Lake City," damaging several long‑standing downtown businesses and prompting city offers of emergency financial help.
The speaker said the buildings — including Los Tapitios, London Bell, Whitehorse and Whiskey Street — are "iconic businesses in our downtown core" that draw "thousands" of residents and visitors. The speaker thanked the Salt Lake City Fire Department and neighboring departments for their response, saying, "I wanna thank, our Salt Lake City fire Department who did a fantastic job last night." The speaker also thanked 911 and the police department for coverage and assistance.
City officials were on site coordinating support, the speaker said, with the economic development team contacting business owners and building owners to activate a municipal emergency loan fund. "Salt Lake City has an emergency loan fund that we, are able to stand up, and we will be doing so and working with them to with no interest loans to help them cover some of the costs once they get their insurance assessments done," the speaker said.
The speaker emphasized the financial pressure on employees, saying dozens of workers "are not gonna be able to go to work tonight, who rely on this income to support their households and their families." The speaker noted past local responses such as a "tip your server" program during the COVID pandemic and said the city "is gonna be looking into" similar measures because insurance payouts "often don't trickle down to their employees and their lost wages the way that, we know that they need."
The speaker urged community support for the affected operators and employees and said city staff will follow up with owners and workers to provide information on loans and other assistance. No formal votes or ordinances were announced during the remarks. The city’s next steps, according to the speaker, are outreach by economic development staff, insurance assessments by owners, and activation of the emergency loan fund where appropriate.
