- Ogden officials are redoubling calls for developers to secure their construction sites after three recent fires.
- Specifically, the city reached out to developers of 14 projects, emphasizing the importance of enhanced safety precautions.
- One of the three fires, focus of continued investigation, destroyed a 48-unit apartment complex that was taking shape.
OGDEN — In the wake of two recent fires that caused extensive damage at two construction sites in Ogden, city officials have reached out to the developers behind several impending projects to make sure they properly secure their work locations.
Given the spate of major fires impacting Ogden buildings — three since Aug. 3 and another devastating blaze on Jan. 25 — the hope is to minimize the possibility of a recurrence, especially in light of dry conditions. The most recent fire, called in on Aug. 8, destroyed a 48-unit apartment building that was taking shape in the 100 block of 18th Street.
"It's kind of a hot topic in the city, and we just don't want this to happen again," Ogden Fire Chief Mike Slater said Thursday. "So we're going to be hypervigilant to make sure that we do our part as a prevention division, the fire department, to make sure their sites are safe."
Specifically, he said, the city sent notices to the developers of 14 larger-scale building projects that recently started or are about to start, advising them to make sure they take proper precautions to guard against fires. Certain safety precautions are already required, but the intent is to emphasize the importance of implementing the safeguards.
"We asked them to help us — fencing the property, securing that first floor to access, cameras, extinguishers in the buildings, noncombustibles, clean job sites," he said. "Some of the things they're already doing; some of the things we're asking (them) to step up and do to help prevent this from happening again."
The city said larger-scale commercial and residential construction projects in Ogden would have to comply with "enhanced safety requirements" related to fencing, surveillance measures and more. "Compliance will be verified through both scheduled and unannounced inspections. Noncompliance will result in stop-work orders and can lead to permit revocation and penalties," the city said in a press release Wednesday.
Meantime, the investigation into the fire that destroyed the 48-unit apartment building continues, and Slater didn't have any new details to offer. A team of experts from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives traveled to Ogden to assist in the investigation, headed by Brent Beavers, an agent from the ATF Field Division in Denver.
The agents, part of the ATF's National Response Team, "bring some expertise that can be a force multiplier for the chief and his crew," Beavers said. The team numbers around 20.
Slater offered no new details into the Aug. 3 blaze that destroyed a townhome under construction in a development site in the 400 block of West 12th Street or the Aug. 4 fire at a multiunit structure in the 300 block of 32nd Street. The Aug. 4 fire rendered the structure uninhabitable and displaced the 13 people living there. However, he said the three fires don't seem to be linked. "It's just coincidental that they all happen at the same time," he said.
Lotus Co. is the developer behind the building destroyed in the Aug. 8 fire, as well as another apartment building taking shape at 2186 Lincoln Ave. in Ogden that was destroyed in a Jan. 25 fire. A 16-year-old Roy boy was arrested in connection with the January fire, authorities announced days after the incident, while reconstruction at the site is well underway.
Separate fires in Ogden in 2021 and 2022 also destroyed apartment buildings that were under construction.
Apart from the focus on building projects, Ogden is increasing efforts to identify lots that pose a heightened fire risk due to debris and overgrowth of vegetation.
"Tall, dry grasses aren't just a code issue — they're a community safety issue. If a neighbor needs help clearing weeds or debris, we need our community to step up and help each other," Mayor Ben Nadolski said in Wednesday's statement. "Fire prevention is a team effort, and it starts right on our own streets."
