SANDY, Utah, Jan. 1, 2021 (Gephardt Daily) — Firefighters are battling a two-alarm residential fire Friday night after an oven in the home started to burn and the flames quickly spread throughout the structure.
Sandy Fire Department Deputy Chief Ryan McConaghie said crews were called just before 9 p.m. to the home in the area of 2800 East and 9460 South.
He said the oven was in the cleaning mode when it started burning with flames spreading into the kitchen.
Units from Unified Fire Authority, Sandy and Murray responded. When firefighters arrived, they started an offensive attack, but called a second alarm as the fire continued to spread to other parts of the home.
The residence is at the top of a dead-end road, which meant the “ladder truck, engines, ambulance — eight or 10 different fire apparatus — police cars” that responded were crowded into a tight area, McConaghie said.
The location also made it difficult to access enough water to fight the blaze, forcing firefighters to pull water from several different locations.
“It’s a really beautiful area, but a little challenging on the water supply,” McConaghie said. “In a little bit of time, the fire continued to spread and went from an offensive fire to a defensive fire, where they were not able to make entry.”
The occupants of the home were able to get out and weren’t injured.
“So far, no firefighters have been injured, either,” McConaghie said. “They’re still working to put it out, hitting the hot spots. They have a handle on it at this point, but in my estimate, it’s a total loss.”
He said crews will be working on the fire through the rest of the night, and someone will stay to continue monitoring the hot spots.
Investigators are on scene because, even though the blaze was apparently set off by the oven, they’ll want to determine why the flames spread as quickly as they did.
McConaghie said possibly four people have been displaced, and the American Red Cross has been called to assist them in finding accommodations.
He said the homes in the area are on large lots, and there was no damage or threat to neighboring residences.
Gephardt Daily will update this developing story as more details are made available.
