Targeted for his BYU fandom? South Jordan man finds front-door wreath on fire


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SOUTH JORDAN — Justin Christensen discovered the BYU-themed wreath on his front door was on fire early Tuesday morning, and he suspects the act of vandalism may be connected to his fandom.

“My family was inside in bed,” the South Jordan man said. “Two of my kids were home, and that’s scary.”

Fortunately, Christensen was already awake just after 4 a.m. for work and spotted the flames flickering on his front porch.

“That’s when the heart dropped and I kind of went into panic mode at that point,” he recalled. “The scary part for me is my son’s bedroom is just right there next to the front door, and so my first instinct was, ‘I’ve got to get the fire out.’”

Christensen was able to quickly douse the fire, but the door remained blackened and partially melted Tuesday afternoon. The door will have to be replaced.

“If I hadn’t noticed and just jumped into my car and left to work, I don’t know what would have happened,” he said.

Christensen said his home, which boasts royal blue stucco and BYU oval logos on the mailbox, has been targeted before, leading him to believe this act was also related to his love of Cougar athletics.

“Almost every one of my BYU flags every season is stolen from my property,” he said. “My mailbox has BYU on it. It gets smashed every year. Any yard sign I put out that has anything to do with BYU is destroyed or stolen.”

South Jordan Police Lt. Matt Pennington said it appears whoever is responsible did not use an accelerant, and he suspects the act was a prank gone wrong.

“It looks like it was some sort of practical joke. They thought they were being funny,” Pennington said.

Police aren’t laughing, he said, noting that what took place could have had a far worse outcome.

“You never know how quickly a fire can catch and ignite an entire house,” Pennington said.

Investigators are still looking for those responsible.

Christensen said he hopes the person who lit the fire will understand what could have gone wrong.

“Life is too precious to lose over something stupid like that,” he said.

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