Avenues apartment fire displaces two men and dog

An early-morning apartment fire today in Salt Lake City's Avenues neighborhood left two men and a Chihuahua displaced and did tens of thousands of dollars in damage.

Firefighters were called to the complex at 619 E. Fifth Ave. after the four-plex was engulfed in flames at about 12:40 a.m.

Richard Dupont, the duplex's only second-floor resident, noticed the fire and smelled smoke after his Chihuahua, Tinkerbell, yelped. He said he opened the door leading to his living room, but quickly closed it when smoke poured into his bedroom.

Dupont threw his dog out the window to safety. It was scared but unhurt, he said. He then grabbed his laptop computer and exited out the second-story window himself, receiving minor cuts and scrapes.

The fire started on the first floor in or near one of the four-plex's vacant units, said Salt Lake City Fire information officer Scott Freitag. Its cause was not immediately determined and damages to the building were estimated as "many tens of thousands of dollars," by Freitag.

A man living in the four-plex's first floor escaped without injury, but neither he nor Dupont will be able to return to their homes, Freitag said.

"I'm flustered, winded, very disappointed," Dupont said at about 1:15 a.m., while firefighters were crawling through what had been his home. "I lost just about everything."

Two four-plexes immediately behind the burned building were not damaged.

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E-mail: rpalmer@desnews.com