Salt Lake-area fires keep crews busy early Saturday

No one was injured during two fires overnight that displaced a mother and her 11-month-old child and resulted in more than $100,000 in damages.

The first fire flared up at 3065 S. 700 East in the Millcreek area around 12:35 a.m. Saturday morning when a woman's furnace in her mobile home caught fire, said Unified Fire Authority Capt. Wade Russell. The woman called 911 and got her child out of the home, which Russell said was a total loss at an estimated $5,000.

A two-alarm fire about 1 a.m. at 2801 S. 300 East in South Salt Lake claimed three sheds, two cars, everything inside a makeshift motorcycle repair shop in one of the sheds and damaged the side of a two-story apartment building, said Kevin Bowman, deputy chief of the South Salt Lake Fire Department. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

People were temporarily evacuated from two apartment buildings and two single-family dwellings as crews put out the fire, a task complicated by propane and other explosive materials inside the repair shop, Bowman said. Damages are estimated at $100,000.

— Stephen Speckman