HERRIMAN, Utah, July 6, 2025 (Gephardt Daily) — Unified Fire officials are praising the heroic actions of bystanders who they say risked their own safety to pull two people from a burning car moments before a gas-fueled fire and explosion destroyed a Domino’s Pizza and damaged nearby businesses in a Herriman strip mall late Saturday night.
Capt. Tony Barker with Unified Fire Authority told Gephardt Daily the incident began around 10:30 p.m. with a three-car crash that caused one of the vehicles to veer off the road and slam into a Domino’s, igniting a fast-moving fire which led to an explosion that quickly consumed the commercial structure.
“Some heroic efforts by some bystanders helped assist two occupants out of the car while it was burning,” Barker said. “You can’t credit them enough, honestly, as life-saving measures. Very heroic efforts — tip of the hat to them for what they did, putting themselves in harm’s way to basically affect a really good outcome for something that could have been significantly worse.”
VIDEO: Gephardt Daily / Monico Garza / SLCScanner
As firefighters worked to contain the flames, they encountered a significant natural gas leak that created an even more hazardous situation. A subsequent explosion leveled the Domino’s location and caused major damage to businesses on either side of the strip mall.
An evacuation order went out by way of a reverse 911 call telling nearby residents to evacuate their homes until the gas leak could be shutdown.
“It took a while for them to dig down and clamp those lines off, and once they did, our suppression was pretty quick,” Barker said.
The Domino’s and adjacent businesses, including a Jimmy John's and Supercuts hair salon, were unoccupied at the time of the fire.
Multiple agencies — including Unified Fire, West Jordan, South Jordan, Sandy, Draper, and West Valley City — responded to the second-alarm fire. Other departments across the Salt Lake Valley covered calls while crews fought the flames.
The victims from the crashed vehicle were transported to local hospitals for treatment. Their conditions were not immediately released.
Barker credited the quick-thinking citizens who pulled the victims from the burning car before emergency crews arrived, calling their actions “truly heroic.”
“It could have been a much worse tragedy,” he said.
Photo: Gephardt Daily/ Justin Anderson
Herriman Mayor Lorin Palmer took to social media to express his gratitude for firefighters and police. “Thank you to those first responders who handled such a crazy scene with such professionalism! We have amazing teams that are the best at what they do!
“And to the dozens of residents who reached out offering to open their homes or to volunteer at an evacuation center … thank you! I love how we respond to these unfortunate events in our city … we truly live in a great community!”
