Provo fire kills one, displaces dozens

PROVO — Officials have confirmed one death in Tuesday morning's massive apartment fire at the Boulders.

The body of a woman in her 50s was found about 12:30 p.m. in the far right upper apartment of the complex near 650 W. 750 South, said Leonard Dubois, emergency services director for the Provo chapter of the American Red Cross.

"She was the one person who was missing," Dubois said. "We found her dog, but that was it. People were wondering if she had gone somewhere."

The fire began about 5:20 a.m., said Provo City Fire Deputy Chief Gary Jolley, but officials still don't know a cause.

When firefighters and police arrived, the upper apartments were fully engulfed and fire and police went door-to-door to make sure all residents were safely evacuated. There are 12 apartments in a building, six apartments on each level and in sets of three, divided by a hallway.

Crews were able to get the fire knocked down in about 40 minutes, although cleanup continued into the afternoon.

Tuesday morning about 5:30, Tina Espanol, 81, said she heard loud noises outside and opened her front door to see fire devouring the nearby staircase to the upper apartments.

Then she heard her front windows break, and a fire officer or police officer, she doesn't know which, pulled her from her house. Espanol was able to grab a jacket, but was only wearing one blue slipper as she recounted the experience.

"I hope that nothing happened (to my stuff)," she said in Spanish. She wasn't too worried about the distant flames. Instead, she cringed when she thought about the water gushing from the fire hose that crews had snaked through her windows.

Her television and books can be replaced, but losing her green card, passport and family pictures would be unbearable.

"I have many things that wouldn't serve anybody but me," Espanol said. "Many books, photos of my family. I need the stuff in my house."

Espanol has lived in her apartment for 15 years and survived three floods from broken pipes, but never a fire.

"I am worried about my documents," she said. "What happens, happens … what are you going to do? I'm just worried about my documents."

Espanol spent Tuesday at the Red Cross building on Freedom Boulevard in Provo, along with two dozen displaced neighbors.