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PLAIN CITY, Weber County — Investigators say a space heater sparked a fire at a construction building in Plain City early Friday.
Firefighters responded to a large blaze at Marriott Construction, 4960 W. 2200 North, around 2:30 a.m., Plain City Assistant Fire Chief Brandie Kilts said. The owner of the company was asleep inside the building at the time and reported the blaze.
He said his dog woke him up, alerting him to the fire.
"All of a sudden, my dog came in and jumped on the bed," said Marriott Construction owner Randy Marriott. "She was in a little bit of a panic."
The lab's panic shook Marriott.
"I knew something was very seriously wrong when she done that, cause it scared her," he said. "I could see the fire coming through the doorway, through the cracks there."
Marriott immediately called 911 from the downstairs phone and left the building.
When firefighters arrived, they found flames coming from the second-story windows of the two-story building with a shop attached to the back. They were able to knock the fire down and contain the blaze to a stairway, bathroom, corner of the shop and a living area, Kilts said.
"It's a shop, so there's oils and other hazards that if the fire had gone longer, it could have been a big problem," Kilts said.
They extinguished the blaze with the help of firefighters from the Ogden City, North View and Weber fire districts. Kilts estimated that the fire only reached about 1,000 square feet, which she said was probably less than 25 percent of the entire structure.
It is believed a space heater in the shop area ignited the fire. A damage estimate had not yet been determined, as it was unclear whether the steel supports in the building would need to be replaced, Kilts said.
Marriott said he will likely find a temporary location to operate his construction business and cattle ranch out of while he rebuilds.
Video Contributing: Shara Park and Mike Anderson
