By Bob Mims
The Salt Lake Tribune
OGDEN, Utah — Ogden fire investigators Tuesday were trying to solve a twin mystery: What caused a blaze that killed a 75-year-old woman, and why it took nearly three hours for a 911 call to be made.
Ogden Fire Department spokesman Eric Bauman said the 911 call did not come until 6:16 a.m., after a newspaper carrier heard the alarm and asked a neighbor in the eight-plex apartment complex call for help.
“We learned that about 2:30 a.m., neighbors had heard the woman yelling. She was upset about something. They went over and calmed her down. Then about 3:30 a.m. her smoke detector went off,” Bauman said.
However, no 911 calls came in at that time from the apartment complex at 615 S. Jefferson Ave. When firefighters finally were called to the scene, they arrived within four minutes, only to find the fire had burned itself out; the woman was found dead inside.
It was George Slot, 72, who made the 911 call. He said he did not hear the alarm himself.
“I’m two units away from [the victim]. I didn’t know [anything was wrong] until the newspaper delivery lady knocked on my door and told me about what was going on over there. I hurried and called the fire department,” he said.
Slot and his niece then knocked on other doors in the complex to alert other residents in what Bauman described as “a senior living situation.”
However, the flames were contained to the victim’s unit, which sustained heavy smoke damage.
The cause of the fire remained under investigation, though “it does appear to be accidental at this time,” Bauman said.
A widow, the victim reportedly lived alone, but her name was being withheld Tuesday afternoon pending notification of next of kin.
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