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 Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information.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.
Editor's Note: Police said the man seen in the video has been eliminated as a person of interest and was not related to the arson cases. The video has been removed from this article.CENTERVILLE — Police and fire authorities have cleared the man seen in a surveillance video and are no longer considering him a person of interest in connection with several suspicious fires.
The person in the video was recorded on a surveillance camera "very near one of the fires just before it was reported to us" early Monday, the Centerville Police Department said in a statement.
The fires are being investigated as suspicious and occurred in Farmington and Centerville, said South Davis Metro Fire Chief Jeff Bassett. The Centerville fires were reported overnight Monday near Main Street.
One incident was a dumpster fire reported on Chase Lane (1000 North), according to Bassett. Another was a fire set to a construction trailer holding roofing materials in the parking lot of an LDS Church building at 160 S. 300 East. Trees in front of a home at 1450 N. Main also caught fire, threatening the home and significantly damaging power lines and a power pole, Bassett said.
Those fires, in addition to two garbage can fires that ignited in front of homes in the area, all occurred between roughly 3:30 a.m. and 4:15 a.m., according to Bassett. About 20 firefighters responded to the incidents.
"There is nothing in those areas that would have started the fire other than a man-made fire," he said.
In the early morning on July 6, multiple small but suspicious fires were reported in quick succession in Farmington Canyon. Investigators believe those fires are potentially related to the incidents in Centerville, the fire chief said.
"The concern here is we’ve got someone who’s willing to damage property through fire," he said. "The next concern would be they’re increasing what they’re doing."
The flames in front of the home on 1450 N. Main grew to 50 or 60 feet high Monday, Bassett said.
"Residents were inside at the time asleep," he said. "People driving by were pounding on the doors trying to get them to wake up and get out of the house."
The house wasn't damaged and nobody was injured.
The close call "could have been a lot worse," Bassett added. "Had we had (strong) wind, we definitely would have had the fire into the house."
Investigators are seeking tips about suspicious activity in the area, as well as any video footage or photos from security cameras of nearby homes. Bassett encouraged anyone with woodpiles or dead or downed trees in their yards to remove those items from their properties, not only because of Monday's suspicious fires, but also due to the risk of an accidental fire ignited by fireworks.
Anyone with information about the various fires or who may be responsible for them is asked to call Centerville police at 801-292-8441.
