MURRAY, Utah, Sept. 4, 2017 (Gephardt Daily) — Murray firefighters have responded to a fire at the same small, cluttered residence for the second time in four days.
The two wheelchair-bound residents were rescued Thursday night by their grandson and a neighbor at about 10 p.m., before firefighters arrived at the scene, at 7550 S. Lindon St.
The residence was rendered uninhabitable, and officials said on Monday afternoon that no one was in the burning house when firefighters were called back.
“We have a couple of mysterious fires at this home within a week,” Pat Killion, Murray City Fire Department deputy fire marshal told Gephardt Daily on Monday. “It’s my responsibility to figure out what’s going on.
“It’s an unusual situation here — two elderly folks live here, very cluttered home, they were actually rescued the other night by their grandson and a neighbor in a late-night fire last week. Very, very difficult to try and learn what has happened here to the clutter.”
Killion said the elderly residents’ daughter lives down the street.
“They were just fixing to have it cleared out, and have a restoration company lined up,” Killion said. “We had a fire at the same location in a different part of the house, and there’s no explanation for it as of yet.”
When the Thursday fire began, the residents called their daughter, Deputy Chief Jon Harris told Gephardt Daily that night.
“The daughter called the grandson,” Harris said, “and when he got there and opened the door, the place was charged with smoke. He immediately called 911.”
The grandson is Aaron Lugo, 19, and a student at Penn Foster College. Lugo “grabbed his grandmother, lifted her up and carried her out,” Harris said. “A neighbor came and went in and got the grandfather and carried him out.”
There were also three dogs in the house, which Lugo brought out.
“The grandparents weren’t injured,” Harris said. “The grandson had some smoke inhalation. He was checked out, and wasn’t transported.”
The cause of the Thursday fire isn’t known, but Harris said it initially looked like it started in the kitchen area; however, officials don’t believe it was due to cooking.
“They had a lot of storage in the kitchen, and electrical cords, so that’s where we’re focusing our investigation,” Harris said.
Murray City Fire and Unified Fire departments both responded. Both responded again on Monday. Killion estimated that 16 firefighters were on scene.
Foam was used to smother the fire on Monday, and it clung to the remaining clutter.
” … and that’s where it sits right now, wetter than lead.”
