‘Whole family’ – residents and felines – safe after Dixie Downs house fire – St George News

ST. GEORGE – A fire that started in a side yard spread to a home on a Dixie Downs cul-de-sac midday Wednesday. Firefighters were able to evacuate residents who were home at the time, then rescued three cats before putting out the fire.

As long as they are safe, residents and their feline companions will be at least temporarily displaced. Firefighters determined that while the home was not a total loss, the damage was enough to keep it unoccupied for some time.

The fire was first reported at 11 a.m. at 1186 N. 1610 West Circle, but residents inside were unaware that the side of their home was on fire.

“We received a 911 call from a passerby that a house was on fire here,” St. George Fire Chief Robert Stoker said at the scene. “Passers-by knocked on the door and everyone was evacuated.”

Although the exact cause of the fire remains to be determined, Stoker said it started in an open area on the right side of the house as viewed from the street. Flames spread along a wooden fence to the home's vinyl siding and then into the home's attic above a bedroom.

“Our investigators are looking for what sources of ignition might be there, talking to the owners, seeing what they've been doing in the last few days, if there's anything out of the ordinary, that sort of thing.” , Stoker said. “Right now we don't have an area of ​​origin, but we're still looking. There was definitely a lot of fuel to burn once these were burned.

Several fire and rescue vehicles from St. George and Santa Clara-Ivins arrived to fight the fire.

“We've had crews remove ceilings and some exterior walls to make sure we get the hot spots in these hidden areas,” Stoker said.

The fire was largely extinguished within half an hour, but there were several outbreaks of hot spots over the next hour or so.

Much of the visible damage was to the right side of the house, with the wooden frame of the right attic exposed above the blackened panels.

But the owner and her children, cared for by neighbors, were not as distressed by the damage as by the status of their three cats. One of them was initially rescued, but the other two remained missing.

Santa Clara-Ivins firefighter/paramedic Ryan Moore came out holding a black cat who was anything but unlucky. After thanking him profusely, the owner shouted again and pointed at the house, saying there was a third feline to be found.

About 15 minutes later, another firefighter came out with the third cat. The resident ran up to the firefighter and hugged them both, then took the last feline member of her family to greet her waiting children.

Ultimately, no one – human, cat or firefighter – was injured, although Stoker said the family would be “out of the house for a while” and would be treated by the Red Cross.

Although Stoker said the main priority is the lives of the humans inside, firefighters are not oblivious to the importance of saving their pets.

“Pets are like family to people. And so as we move forward, we do research,” Stoker said. “We want to make sure we take care of the whole family. »

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