SALT LAKE COUNTY, Utah, July 26, 2018 (Gephardt Daily) — A house fire in eastern Salt Lake County could have been much worse, according to firefighters from Unified Fire Authority.
Crews were called to 4516 S. Gilead Way at about 3 a.m. Thursday. Unified Fire Authority crews responded to the 1-alarm fire, at the end of a street in east Holladay area.
“We had a single-family residence, we had a room and contents fire,” said Captain Richard Rich, UFA. “Thankfully, the occupants were alerted by working smoke detectors and they were able to get their whole family out.”
Unified had a couple of advantages. Crews were able to squeeze trucks between cars parked on the narrow street, and get to the residence.
“And the structure has a skylight in the room of origin, so the skylight had melted, allowing the fire to vent through the roof,” Rich said. “It was able to maintain and let the heat out without it spreading too far through the rooms.
“Another big point in this one was a lot of the bedroom doors were shut, so it was able to keep the fire in check, compartmentalized. And that’s something. We encourage everybody to sleep with their doors shut and prevent any smoke or heat from intruding into other parts of the structure.”
Rich said because of a few lucky breaks including the fire staying compartmentalized, crews were able to knock down the fire in 10 or 15 minutes.
Rich said there were no injuries, but the house would not be habitable for a few days. Rich estimated damages at about $75,000, adding that a full assessment had not been done yet.
