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SALT LAKE CITY — Smoking materials and an oxygen tank are being blamed for an explosion and fire at a Salt Lake apartment complex over the weekend that resulted in one death and injured five others, including three firefighters.
About 2 a.m. Monday, fire broke out at a complex at 243 S. 300 East. Neighbors reported hearing an explosion and the first arriving crews found flames coming out a first-floor apartment and spreading up the front of the building. The entire front facade of the building was soon engulfed by flames.
Tuesday, the Salt Lake City Fire Department confirmed the explosion was caused by "personal smoking materials" that were "too close to an oxygen source," causing an oxygen cylinder to explode.
One person in the apartment where the oxygen tank exploded was killed. That person's name has not yet been released. Two others were taken to local hospitals in critical and serious conditions. The critical patient was being treated for burn injuries, according to Salt Lake firefighters. Both victims remained in the hospital Tuesday and their conditions were unchanged. It was not known Tuesday if all three victims lived in the same apartment.
Three firefighters also received minor injuries while fighting the fire: one suffered a cut, another rolled his ankle and third was treated for overexertion, according to the fire department.
Tenants in 13 apartments have been displaced by the fire.
