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PROVO — Firefighters in three Utah counties responded to four separate house fires Monday night through Tuesday morning.
One fire in Weber County on Tuesday morning caused an estimated $2 million in damage to a home, which will likely be a total loss.
No major injuries were reported in any of the fires. But all of the homes suffered extensive damage, leaving the families with very little right before Christmas.
Just after 10 p.m. Monday, the Unified Fire Authority began receiving calls from multiple people reporting a large fire in Taylorsville. Fire crews located the fire at 6059 S. Country Hills Drive "and found large amounts of fire and smoke from (the) backside," said Unified Fire Capt. Eric Holmes.
Firefighters from West Valley City, West Jordan and South Jordan assisted Unified crews in bringing the fire under control. Holmes said the house suffered extensive damage.
As of Tuesday morning, Holmes was unsure how many people were inside the house at the time the fire started. When emergency crews arrived, he said there were multiple neighbors who had been running in and out of the house trying to help the residents. Firefighters and paramedics ended up assisting 10 people for a "variety of things," he said.
Two people were transported to local hospitals with undisclosed injuries, none of which were reported to be life-threatening.
The cause of the fire remained under investigation Tuesday. The home will be uninhabitable for some time, Holmes said, while calling it a "horrific" and "awful" situation for the family right before Christmas.
Fire crews in Provo responded to a similar situation Tuesday morning.
Just before 3 a.m., a fire was reported at 776 E. 200 North. Investigators believe the fire started near a carport where a vehicle was parked and then spread to the house and later to a neighbor's garage, according to Provo Fire Marshal Lynn Schofield.
A mother, father and three children were able to get out of their burning house safely. Schofield said the home will likely be declared a complete loss. The cause of the fire remained under investigation Tuesday.
Like the house fire in Taylorsville, Provo crews were forced to fight the fire defensively, meaning it was unsafe for firefighters to go inside.
Then about 6:30 a.m. Tuesday, West Valley firefighters were called to a house fire at 4446 W. Rutgers Ave. (4630 South). A mother and two sons were able to safely get out of the house. Fire crews say the main floor of the residence is likely a complete loss.
The cause of that fire also remained under investigation Tuesday.
The Weber Fire District said it responded to a house fire in Eden, Weber County, later Tuesday morning. Because firefighters had just extinguished a car fire nearby, two fire trucks were empty of water, which made it more difficult to fight the house fire.
They were eventually able to extinguish the Eden fire — with help from the Ogden Fire Department — although the house suffered an estimated $2 million in damage and is expected to be a total loss.
Firefighters said the blaze began as an exterior fire which they believe was caused accidentally. One person was in the house at the time, and they escaped without injury.
