Olympus Cove fire destroys house

OLYMPUS COVE — More than three dozen crews from several fire agencies responded to a two-alarm house fire that caused about $200,000 in damage.

No one was injured in the blaze, which started Wednesday afternoon when neighbors called 911 and reported seeing large pillars of smoke coming from a one-story home at 3681 E. 4250 South, Unified Fire Authority Capt. Clint Smith said.

The man who owns the home, along with his two dogs, showed up at the scene a few minutes after firefighters arrived and notified authorities that no one was in the home — a concern for initial responders.

Crews from UFA, Murray City Fire, South Salt Lake Fire and Midvale City Fire used 10 trucks to "knock out the large bulk of the fire in 20 to 25 minutes," Smith said. "Then we spent another hour knocking out hot spots.

Smith said the home is likely a total loss, about $200,000 in damage.

Although the cause of the fire is still under investigation, Smith said detectives are concentrating their analysis on an area of the basement were they believe it started.

Fire crews kept the fire from spreading to other structure in the neighborhood, but the heat from the fire damaged brick and siding on a home directly to the west, Smith said.

— Jacob Hancock