Cedar City crews quickly extinguish kitchen fire at teacher's home – St George News

TOWN OF CEDAR — A teacher and his wife were temporarily displaced from their home in the Cove subdivision early Wednesday morning.

Cedar City Fire Department Chief Mike Phillips said emergency crews were dispatched to an address near 2300 W. Meadow St. after a kitchen fire at 8:40 a.m. and arrived 3 minutes later.

The fire broke out in the upstairs kitchen of a home owned by a Southern Utah University accounting professor, Battalion Chief Erick Cox said. Crews extinguished the fire quickly, but the homeowners will be relocated while the smoke clears and the damage is repaired.

“Most home fires start in the kitchen,” Cox said. “The first crews arrived very quickly. Two minutes later, it could have been much worse.

The fire climbed a wall, melting windows into liquid with temperatures up to 1,200 degrees, Cox added, burning through a door. Smoke could be seen coming from the back of the house by neighbors watching from the street.

Around 9:30 a.m., the first crews began storing materials while the remaining crews checked the roof and ventilated the house.

Cox said he knew the owner, making the incident call “a little personal.” The fire also allowed the department to test recently purchased equipment for the first time.

After a fire, crews can often be seen rolling hundreds of pounds of pipe by hand. The Cedar City Fire Department recently purchased a Rollnrack hose management system that can roll up to 100 feet of hose and then eject the roll onto a wheeled cart.

While watching crews use the nearly $7,000 piece of equipment for the first time since training, Cox said the tool greatly improves efficiency by removing all air and water from the pipes before storage.

“It will also save a lot of back pain,” he said. “Packing isn’t one of the fun parts of this job.”

Phillips said the cause of the fire was still under investigation and the flames failed to reach the roof of the home due to the quick response time.

“We had 17 firefighters on scene, the first crews arrived 3 minutes after the call,” he said. “If we had been 1 minute later, the fire probably would have reached the roof. Then it would be off to the races.

The fire was started by a neighbor after smoke was seen coming from the window, Phillips said. No one was inside the house at the time.

A fire engine, ladder truck, brushed motor, heavy rescue apparatus and two command vehicles supported the extinguishment by the Cedar City Fire Department.

The Cedar City Police Department and Gold Cross Ambulance provided traffic control and medical assistance on scene. No injuries were reported by firefighters or residents, Phillips added.

This report is based on statements from court records, police or other stakeholders and may not contain the complete findings.

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