TREMONTON, Utah — Nixon Canfield has lived in his Tremonton neighborhood for the past 15 years, and thought he’s seen it all, until Friday morning around 10 a.m.
“I saw some smoke out back so I kind of walked out front to see if it was across the street or what, walked to my backyard and saw the flames coming from the shop,” he said. "Oh my gosh, I've never seen something this close and like this extreme.”
“The gentlemen that were here in their building, they own the building, they were in there working on some ATVs, they're just pulling some old fuel out of the fuel tank, and looks like that just ignited,” said Chief Jeff Jarrow with the Tremonton Fire Department. "The crew was very quick on scene, the initial attack."
“It was pretty crazy they would spray it and it would just start right back up,” Canfield added.
Jarrow said the wind was in their favor on Friday, other buildings around it could have been threatened, including Canfield’s home.
FOX 13 News asked him if he was worried that the fire would come to his home.
“Not super but kind of in the back of my mind just if something had caught fire and came over,” he said.
Jarrow said the two who were working inside tried to put the fire out, and in return received burns on their legs, arms and hands. They were taken to the hospital but are expected to be okay.
“Fortunately this wasn’t a business for them; it was just a place where they were able to come and continue to work out of, it was a family business before this,” Jarrow said. "They’re at a loss, and it’s always sad to see.”
After battling two fires in the same area before this one, Jarrow is urging those who live there to be cautious this summer.
“While we're out using ATVs, we're out doing projects around their home, we see green grass, but the vegetation is dry. We live in Utah. The humidity is very low,” he said, "we are in a drought condition, it's a recipe for disaster with wildland fires."
While this fire was an accident, there are still some things those in the area can do to stay safe, like always keeping buckets of water handy and keeping bonfires at least 20 feet away from other people in the area.
