Salt Lake brings big response to small fire

Salt Lake City Fire brought a bit more to a firefight than they needed.

The department got a call that there was a fire at 1616 W. Snow Queen Ave., a three-story apartment complex, at 1:19 p.m. Thursday. Four minutes later, firefighters piling out of four engines and two ladder trucks had the west end of the apartment surrounded. They immediately started to aggressively evacuate the building. They ran into some smoke, but it was a few minutes before they found the source.

"There was a water heater on fire" on the third floor, said Salt Lake City Fire spokesman Mark Bednarik. The fire was quickly extinguished.

"Often, you arrive and there's fire billowing out of a window," he said, as the apartment's residents happily relaxed on the grass behind him. "But with this it wasn't as clear."

The burning heater caused minor smoke damage to the third-floor apartment where it was located. There was also some water damage to the apartment and the one below it. The third-floor apartment won't be usable for a day or two, but after that everything should be back to normal, Bednarik said.

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