SALT LAKE CITY — A fire burning in the walls and attic of a Salt Lake City apartment complex Monday left six units damaged and 12 people displaced.
Kelsi Johnson said she first noticed the smell of burning plastic in her apartment shortly before 1 p.m., but it wasn’t until she and her partner went outside a few minutes later that they discovered smoke coming from the top of her building at The Village at Raintree apartment complex near 850 North and 900 West.
“We saw that the top of the roof was actually blowing out a lot of smoke,” Johnson said.
“It was starting to get like thicker and darker, like black smoke,” Josef Hardacker said.
The couple said they ran to alert their building’s maintenance while calling 911, and within minutes, Salt Lake City firefighters were on scene.
“Our first arriving units found smoke coming out of the attic. When they made the entrance into the area, they found smoke on all levels of this apartment complex,” Salt Lake City Fire Capt. Brandt Hancuff said.
Fifty-eight firefighters responded to the fire due to the complex nature of the flames burning in the building’s attic and in the walls of multiple units, but as they gained control of it, several engine crews were released. By about 3 p.m., the fire was fully extinguished.
“Obviously, as we put that fire out, we got water damage down through the walls into those bottom units,” Hancuff said. “So, there’s extensive damage to these units.”
Johnson and Hardacker live on the top floor of the building with their 5-year-old son. They said they expect to have significant damage due to fire, water, and smoke damage.
“I noticed that they were kind of tearing into the ceiling,” Hardacker said. “We actually had some residents talking about when they were using the hoses, saying that there was water coming through.”
Hardacker said they plan to stay with family Monday night but worry about their long-term accommodation if they’re not able to return to their apartment soon. He said he worries about the financial impact this could have on his family just two weeks before Christmas.
“What’s going to happen now? The anxiety of not knowing, like, what to expect or how we’re going to be taken care of in the situation,” he said. “It’s hard to tell, like, when the home will be OK to stay in and what kind of work will they need to do before it’s livable again.”
The American Red Cross arrived on scene after the fire to assist the impacted families.
