A massive fire at a nearly-complete apartment complex is a devastating setback for Sugar House.

What happened: The Sugar Alley apartment complex was ravaged late Tuesday night by a fire that forced hundreds of neighbors to evacuate and showered ash over southeastern Salt Lake City.

Why it matters: The building was set to be the finishing touch on a long — and often painful—redevelopment in the neighborhood's central business district during the past 15 years.

• About 200 apartments were set to open next year, bringing some relief to Salt Lake City's excruciatingly tight rental market.
• The building was also going to house restaurants and shops on the ground floor, helping to make the neighborhood more walkable.

Yes, but: Now it could be years before the site is functional, Sugar House Community Council chair Landon Clark acknowledged.

Catch up quick: The building sits near 2100 South and Highland Drive, on a block that has seen years of upheaval and controversy related to stop-and-go development plans.

• A developer in 2008 demolished much of the block, which had been a hipster neighborhood with popular local shops. Then the recession hit, and the heart of Sugar House was left empty for years — a blight known as the "Sugar Hole."
• After new buildings and some tax dollars finally filled the Sugar Hole, the same developer ejected more businesses to the south, including two beloved bars, to build a clinic and office tower — but that also fell through.
• The demolished site sat empty until another developer, Lowe Property Group, proposed the Sugar Alley project in 2019.

What they're saying: "It's devastating," Clark told Axios. "There's a lot of projects going on currently, and this is one that was just wrapping up."

• Lowe was "on the forefront" of efforts to make Sugar House more pedestrian-friendly, Clark added.

What's next: Fire crews told KUTV they planned to begin demolishing a part of the burned building Wednesday night.

• Lowe didn't immediately return calls for comment.

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Salt Lake County has launched a new air pollution map just in time for winter inversion season.

What's happening: The new AirView map has more precise, neighborhood-specific readings because it uses more sensor networks than other government maps that are available, county health officials announced this week.

Why it matters: Air pollution along the Wasatch Front gets trapped between mountain ranges when high-pressure systems, which bring clear weather, settle in.

• That causes particulate matter to build up between storms, creating what's called the "inversion."
• The subsequent high pollution levels pose health risks, especially for people who already have medical problems.

The bottom line: More accurate readings could allow residents to make better decisions about when and where to go outside when the air gets gunky.

🎃Utah is running low on pumpkins as Halloween approaches. (KSL.com)

• We told you this summer that the record-high temps were flummoxing squash production; now the Cucurbita ghosts are coming home to roost.

💧Water conservationists say Utah could save water if the state stopped letting water districts collect property taxes to subsidize overuse. (Deseret News)

🚧 The old Sears building downtown is being demolished this week. (FOX 13)

💸 Natural gas prices could go up 35% this winter if the state approves Dominion Energy's rate requests. (The Salt Lake Tribune)

👋 Erin here! One of my favorite annual stops during spooky season is an improbable little shop of horrors: Wasatch Propane at 201 W. 2700 South!

Details: The propane store has a massive collection of animatronic props. It's also a trip down memory lane for those of us who wait with bated breath each August for Home Depot to unveil their new Halloween collections.

• The propane showroom has a haunted hearse, a ghostly gondolier, a pirate ship, a dark angel and of course, the 12-foot skeleton.
• It also has loads of horrifying clowns, vampires, killers, ghosts and severed limbs.

Of note: I've seen multiple customers bring in their kids while propane shopping in October.

• So fire up your gas grill, and give yourself an excuse for the errand!