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PROVO — A home under construction was mostly destroyed Saturday after the hill behind it collapsed and pushed the structure off its foundation.
At 3:18 p.m., emergency crews in Provo responded to the residence, 1244 N. 1450 East in Provo, and found that the slope had knocked down a retaining wall and collided with the back of the house, according to Provo Fire Marshal Lynn Schofield.
Contractors had been working on the roof at the time, but they were able to get down before the slide occurred, Schofield said. No one was injured.
"We were very fortunate that the people doing the framing up on the roof got down only about three or four minutes before this occurred," Schofield said. "That could have created a much different outcome."
Investigators believe the slide was caused by a garden hose that was left running at a neighboring house, which was initially thought to be at risk but was later determined to be safe, Schofield said. The family of that home was believed to be camping, and it was unclear why the hose was running.
We don't know how long that garden hose ran, but it saturated the soil, which, as you know, after our significant rainfall of late, the soil is already pretty damp. So that garden hose just continued to saturate it until it pushed over the retaining wall.
–Fire Marshal Lynn Schofield
"We don't know how long that garden hose ran, but it saturated the soil, which, as you know, after our significant rainfall of late, the soil is already pretty damp," he said. "So that garden hose just continued to saturate it until it pushed over the retaining wall."
The entire frame of the house will have to be demolished and rebuilt, he said. The condition of the foundation was unknown Saturday, but the damage was initially estimated to be between $80,000 and $100,000.
Schofield said a geotechnical engineer was expected to visit the home on Monday to assess the soil behind the house and establish a mitigation plan before the structure is razed. No other homes were at risk Saturday, he said.
"We want to reassure as best we can, this is an isolated, very localized slope failure," he said. "We have a lot of people who have houses up on these benches and going up the hillside. But we do believe this is a very localized event."
Contributing: Nkoyo Iyamba
