From Deseret News archives:

Kaysville home damaged in fireworks-related blaze

Published: Thursday, July 3, 2008 10:16 a.m. MDT
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KAYSVILLE — Smoldering fireworks sparked a fire at a home here, the third such fire in a week.

Firefighters are bracing for more blazes on July Fourth.

"We're concerned because the Fourth's on a Friday so people will stay up late and light more fireworks," Kaysville Fire Chief Brett Larkin said Thursday.

The latest blaze happened early Tuesday morning at a home near Main Street and 400 South. Firefighters said the family had been lighting fireworks and had disposed of the pyrotechnics in a garbage can.

"They were doing it safely and everything was fine," the chief said. "When they threw them away, instead of soaking them in water, they threw them in the trash can and it smoldered."

About 1 a.m., firefighters believe the trash can caught fire. The fire spread to a pickup in the garage and caught the house on fire. When the pickup's tires exploded, it woke up the family who evacuated the burning home and used garden hoses to try to put the fire out.

About $10,000 in damage was done to the family's home, Larkin said. The pickup was destroyed.

Larkin said the fire is the third one this week that crews have to handle.

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"We had a fire on Sunday we're suspecting it had to do with fireworks," he said. "It was a deck fire."

Earlier this week, firefighters also responded to a blaze on the Layton-Kaysville border, where Larkin said a group of kids were playing with fireworks and a 5-gallon can of gasoline.

"They lit the gas can on fire," he said. "We suspect they would spill out spots of gasoline and throw fireworks toward them to get a bigger flash on them."

In Logan, a home sustained more than $100,000 in damage when fireworks smoldered in a wooden basket on Wednesday and caught the garage on fire.

Larkin said firefighters are urging people to be safe with a longer holiday weekend ahead.

"Don't light fireworks around dry brush or shrubbery. Use legal fireworks. When you're done, put them in a water bucket and soak them in there until the next day," he said. "Don't put the trash can next to your house."


E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com

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