The Salt Lake City Fire Department responded to a house fire at 1012 S. West Temple at about 7:30 p.m. Thursday to find the front of the home fully engulfed in flames.
Audra Sorensen, spokesperson for the department, said 25 personnel arrived on scene after receiving multiple reports of the blaze.
“It was pretty quick,” Sorensen said. “The fire was out in about 10 minutes.”
The sole occupant of the house was a man in his 60s, Sorensen said, who was taken to the University of Utah Hospital for minor smoke inhalation. The fire is believed to have caused about $100,000 of damage to the home, Sorensen said.
Sorensen was not sure if the occupant was among the callers who reported the fire, and was not sure if he had vacated the home prior to firefighters arriving. She said he gave differing accounts of what happened while being transported to the hospital, so investigators are working to see if he suffers from dementia or other mental health issues.
Sorensen said investigators believe the fire started in the front of the house, but the cause remains under investigation.
“There are more home fires in the months of December and January than any other months of the year,” Sorensen said. “Just use special caution.”
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