OGDEN — A fire heavily damaged another apartment building in Ogden, rendering four units off limits.
Ogden firefighters received the report of the blaze at the Ridge View Apartments complex, 710 N. Washington Blvd., at 10:17 p.m. Tuesday. They extinguished it within 10 minutes, but damage was enough to displace the residents in three units, according to Neil Marchant, who had been living in one of them. The fourth unit was unoccupied.
"We just tried to make sure everyone was safe, which we did. We didn't get a chance to grab anything," Marchant said Wednesday, surveying the damage. He had lived in his apartment for 13 years.
As of Wednesday morning, yellow caution tape was placed outside the entry to the four units and at the rear of the structure, where the heaviest damage was visible. The fire caused an estimated $600,000 in damage, according to the Ogden Fire Department, and "impacted" three apartments.
The cause was "improper disposal of smoking material," Fire Chief Slater said, with the blaze starting outside the structure. Fire crews were on the scene for three hours, aiding residents and investigators.
Tuesday's fire is at least the fourth serious blaze in Ogden this month involving multiunit housing structures. An Aug. 3 blaze destroyed a townhome under construction in a development site in the 400 block of West 12th Street, and an Aug. 4 fire damaged a multiunit structure in the 300 block of 32nd Street, displacing 13 people. An Aug. 8 fire destroyed a 48-unit apartment building that was under construction.
One person was treated for minor burns stemming from Tuesday's fire, and another was treated for mild smoke inhalation, according to the fire department. The Red Cross of Northern Utah helped two residents who were displaced.
