Provo Apartment Fire

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Early-morning fire destroys Provo apartment Jeremy Duda - DAILY HERALD
About two dozen Provo families got an alarming wake-up call early Wednesday morning when a fire broke out in their apartment building.

The fire was put out quickly and no one was injured, but a 47-year-old woman and her 3-year-old son lost their apartment. Investigators are still trying to determine the cause of the fire.

According to Battalion Chief Tom Kuhlman of the Provo Fire Department, firefighters responded at 3:46 a.m. to an apartment fire at a complex at 750 S. 650 West. They arrived at the complex to find smoke and flames pouring out the windows of a third-story apartment.

All 24 apartments in the building were evacuated while firefighters fought the blaze, which they extinguished at 4:01, Kuhlman said. Residents began returning to their homes around 5:30 a.m., though the people who live directly below the fire had to wait a bit longer while crews made sure the utilities in their apartment still functioned. No other buildings in the apartment complex were evacuated.

Firefighters were able to keep the blaze from spreading, but everything inside the burned apartment was destroyed. The residents were transported to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center for evaluation, though no injuries were reported.

"Of course, the fire unit won't be able to be occupied," Kuhlman said.

The Utah County chapter of the Red Cross is providing shelter and other assistance to the family. According to Red Cross spokeswoman DeAnne Campbell, winter and Christmastime usually bring more fires in residences because people are using space heaters, doing more cooking and running more electrical devices.

Campbell urged people to donate to the Red Cross this winter to help the victims of tragedies such as Wednesday's fire.