Service dog killed in Murray house fire

Service dog killed in Murray house fire

(File photo)


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

MURRAY — A service dog was killed in a house fire that broke out Thursday evening.

The home lacked functioning smoke detectors, "which just kind of puts us behind the eight ball as far as the time frame," said Murray Fire Battalion Chief Mike Dykman.

Crews from the Murray, Unified and West Valley fire departments responded to 610 W. 5750 South about four minutes after the fire was called in.

They found "fire coming out the front door up into the upstairs," Dykman said. "The fire originated in the basement and so that was our question: 'How did this fire get going so quickly?' And I think part of that reason was because the occupants didn't receive notification from an active smoke detector."

Another reason for the rapid spread of the fire was the split-entry design of the home that "acted just like a chimney to pull that heat and smoke and flames through the entire house," he said.

Initial concerns of a family member being trapped in the home turned into worries of a missing pet. Fire crews ultimately found what appeared to be a deceased service dog in the home. Officials did not know what service the dog performed.

One of the home occupants was taken to an area hospital for an asthma-related incident likely triggered by the fire, according to Dykman. No one else was injured in the fire.

"If this fire would have happened at 3 o'clock in the morning, it could have … had pretty tragic consequences," Dykman said.

Early investigations indicate the fire was accidental. Damage is estimated at $150,000. Those in the home had fire insurance and are staying at a hotel.

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

Utah
Whitney Evans

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast