SOUTH JORDAN, Utah, Oct. 31, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) — South Jordan firefighters and police responded to a report of a structure fire Saturday, and found themselves at the same address where large amounts of explosives were discovered and detonated on July 24 of this year.
They also discovered there was no structure fire, but there was a man critically injured from an explosion.
South Jordan Fire Department Deputy Chief Ryan Lessner told Gephardt Daily the call came in at about 4 p.m. Crews responded to the address — 3317 Snow Moon Place — the same residence to which a bomb squad was called to safely detonate a large amount of explosives in July.
Crews found “a middle-aged man with lower leg injuries,” Lessner said. “There was not a fire at that time. The injuries were significant, and a helicopter was requested.”
The man was transported by AirMed to the University of Utah Hospital for emergency treatment, Lessner said.
Three nearby houses were evacuated as a precaution, Lessner said. A bomb squad was called in to check out the structure, and South Jordan Police officials joined the investigation after the fire department had dealt with the victim’s emergency needs.
Lessner said investigators would be on scene for at least several more hours.
Lessner said at 6:30 p.m. that he had no update on the victim’s condition, or whether one or both legs were injured. He did say medical helicopters are usually called in only when injuries are life-threatening.
Neighbors don’t need to worry, Lessner said.
“At this point, we are confident there is no threat to the public,” he said. “We are still working through the investigation and trying to identify the cause associated with the explosion.”
The lone resident of the home at the time of the July incident, Ryan McManigal, remains in custody in the Salt Lake County Jail system, according to online records.
Asked if Saturday’s victim was a resident of the house, Lessner said, “To the best of my knowledge, the residence had been boarded up since then.”
