SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Sept. 8, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) — Firefighters responded to a fire on First Avenue late Tuesday morning after a mattress caught on when power came back on.
“A resident of a basement apartment was drying her hair when the power went out,” Captain Tony Stowe, Salt Lake City Fire Department, told Gephardt Daily. “It appears she put the hairdryer on the bed, and left for work or somewhere else.”
Her upstairs neighbors were home, and saw and smelled the smoke, Stowe said.
“They called 911, and fire crews found the mattress smoldering. They were able to put it out with an extinguisher, and pulled the mattress out and watered it down.”
Stowe said this kind of call is common after a power outage, and with widespread power outages, he expects many more calls.
“We’ll get these calls for sure as the power comes back on over the next few days,” he said.
