Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
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Gene Kennedy reporting A fire at a senior home in the Avenues prompts a tricky evacuation.
Lonny Casey, Neighbor: "We had seen smoke coming out and went into rescue mode."
Dozens of seniors at the Garden Towers complex in the Avenues had their morning interrupted in a traumatic way. Fire broke out in the building.
Many of seniors needed help getting out, not an easy task in an emergency. Firefighters had to carry some of them out. In all, about 40 people had to evacuate. There are 39 units in the complex.
Around 8:15 this morning smoke was just billowing out of the building. We spotted it from the roof at the Triad Center. You could see smoke hovering over the Avenues.
The fire started inside a woman's apartment. Her caretaker got her out safely.
Katrina Saxton, Victim's Caretaker: "In the laundry room I smelled smoke and I ran out to see what was going on. Saw a little bit of flames, grabbed my girls, grabbed her and ran."
Katrina Saxton doesn't know how the fire started.
Using a ladder truck, crews managed to contain it to that one apartment and put it out in about 15 minutes. The building has heavy smoke damage.
Everyone who had to evacuate made it out unharmed, but getting out safely was stressful.
Asst. Fire Chief Dennis McKone, Salt Lake City Fire Dept.: "Yeah you could see the fear and panic in the faces of the people they were bringing out. When they look and see all the smoke, they are worried about losing everything they own. Everything they own is inside those apartments, every belonging they have had for 50, 60 years. That puts fear into them that they'll lose all their stuff."
Jim Davis, Resident: "Quite a few had to be carried down the stairs, including my wife. I had to assist her. We were on the eighth floor, and it was slow getting out. That was our biggest concern, getting people who were disabled out of the building."
It took more than 50 firefighters to get everyone out. Residents were allowed back into the building around nine this morning.
Investigators are still trying to figure out what caused the fire.
