WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah, Aug. 27, 2016 (Gephardt Daily) — Four West Valley City residents are safe after cars honking outside their residence alerted them to a fire burning at the back of the home.
The West Valley City Fire Department was dispatched to the call at about 1:18 p.m., and responded to 3755 S. 4000 West.
“When our crews arrived, we had a lot for fire on the back side of the structure, they couldn’t tell what was on fire,” said Battalion Chief Jeff Fox, WVCFD.
“It looked like it was a deck with some patio furniture, things like that. It did extend into the back of the structure, and into the second floor, so our crews had a lot of work catching that fire.”
Some buildings in the back had damage as well, but fire did not extend into other structures, Fox said.
“Some of these older homes, you don’t know how many times they’ve been remodeled, so we had to have a lot of crews here,” he said. “We had a lot of trees on fire. We had four occupants that did get out safely. We had no injuries.”
Fox said two of the residents work late shifts, so were asleep until people outside, honking, woke them up. They smelled the smoke, saw the fire, and evacuated the structure. They also saved a dog living in the home.
There was little fire damage, but some water damage to the main level, Fox said. The second level sustained more damage, including damage from flames and from having part of its ceiling torn down so firefighters could access the attic.
Fox said the cause of the fire was unknown, but it appeared to have originated at the back of the house, where none of the residents reported being when it started.
Fox said the structure is not a total loss, but residents will not be able to occupy it immediately.
