Riverton family displaced after fire destroys roof, attic
Scene of a house fire in Riverton Monday. (Jay Dortzbach, Deseret News)
RIVERTON — A Riverton family will be displaced from their home for months after a fire tore through the attic of their home Monday, causing thousands of dollars in damage.
A woman who lived in the home at 1229 W. Sweet Caroline Drive (13340 South) alerted firefighters to the blaze around 10 a.m., said Unified Fire Authority Capt. Mike Greensides. Firefighters arrived to find smoke streaming through the attic and flames broke through to the roof soon after.
"The line crew went defensive at that point," he said. "The home had a vaulted ceiling that was causing problems so they decided to fight the fire from the exterior."
Scene of a house fire in Riverton Monday. (Jay Dortzbach, Deseret News)
Two lines shooting water at a rate of 1,000 gallons a minute helped firefighters to gain control of the blaze within 40 minutes, but that there was still "extensive damage" at that point, Greensides said. The attic stretched along the entirety of the Rambler-style home and the fire left a large hole spanning 30 feet in the roof.
"Our initial guess is $175,000 to $200,000 (in damage)," Greensides said. "It is extensive. They'll be displaced for probably a few months."
He said investigators are at the home working to determine the cause of the fire and were focusing first on any wiring or heating issues that may have contributed to it. Though the home was occupied when the fire started, no one was injured in the blaze.
"Everybody got out," Greensides said. "There was no smoke inhalation, no firefighters were injured."
He knows the family that lived in the home had at least one child, but believed there were others who were at school at the time the fire broke out.
