By Jeremiah Stettler
The Salt Lake Tribune
Copyright 2007 The Salt Lake Tribune
All Rights Reserved
DRAPER, Utah — The flames spread while firefighters slept, striking the crew where they least expected it - inside their own station.
Fire swept through the Draper station at about 2 a.m. Sunday, destroying half the building and damaging several vehicles in a blaze that neighbors described as a tragic irony.
While the cause remains under investigation, Unified Fire Authority Capt. Jay Torgersen said the fire began inside a maintenance bay after the station’s five full-time firefighters had gone to bed.
The smoke triggered no alarms, for there were none. Officials hadn’t installed smoke detectors in the garage because their vehicles’ exhaust fumes would set them off.
So the fire grew until a passing police officer spotted smoke spilling from the building at 14324 S. 550 East.
With a rap on the station door, the officer sent firefighters scrambling to extinguish a blaze that would spit 40- to 50-foot flames from the rooftop and cause about $700,000 in damage.
Michael Loeser witnessed the blaze from his nearby patio, having been drawn from his late-night movie when his bedroom began to glow orange.
The night was cold — dropping to 2 degrees — but he recorded the incident on video as firefighters from at least four agencies tried to save the building.
“How ironic for the fire station to actually burn down,” he said. “I’m glad nobody was [seriously] hurt, but that is hilarious.”
Sunday morning, icicles dangled like teeth from the station’s three-bay garage. Torgersen described the night’s firefight as so cold that water froze almost immediately. The ice proved treacherous for firefighters, who suffered two injuries because of falls, Torgersen said.
While flames gutted the station’s garage — leaving the roof charred and agape — firefighters kept them from spreading into the adjoining living quarters and administration offices. Aside from minor smoke damage, officials say that half of the station still can be used.
Firefighters also saved a fire engine, ambulance and special operations vehicle, which crew members drove out before the blaze grew too fierce.
The fire destroyed a bomb squad vehicle and damaged a grass-fire truck.
As cleanup continued Sunday, a firefighter stood with his wife and two children on a street overlooking the station. He wouldn’t give his name, but said he was shocked. He was scheduled to work Tuesday.
“It’s amazing,” he said. “Fire can happen to anybody. You think it is an unlikely place, but we’re not immune to it.”
UFA officials plan to relocate their staff to a nearby station on 123rd South. While response time will increase slightly in the interim, Torgersen said officials are considering a temporary location on the south side of town that would provide a more immediate response.
The fire is under investigation by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
UFA officials reported nothing suspicious or apparently negligent about the fire’s beginnings but said they are handing the case to ATF investigators to avoid any conflict of interest.