Heber City firefighters save dog from burning home

A single-story home in the Valley Hills neighborhood caught fire Monday around 7 p.m. No one was home, except for a dog.

Battalion Chief R. L. Duke said 911 callers helped crews arrive in time to save the pup.

“What we encountered was heavy fire at the rear of the home,” Duke said, “and our crews were able to stretch a line to the rear of the home and get a quick knockdown on the fire.”

Duke said the cause of the fire is still under investigation.

He said about 15 firefighters responded with two ladder trucks, an engine and an ambulance.

Late last week, another fire burned a home on Explorer Peak Drive, north of Red Ledges.

Wasatch County Fire Marshal Clint Neerings said it was a smaller fire and credited the police and residents for minimizing damage.

“It wasn't really a big incident,” Neerings said. “It was contained to the roof, and when we arrived Heber P.D. and the occupants had put a garden hose on it and knocked down quite a bit of the fire. It was mostly contained to the roof area.”

The official cause is still under investigation, but Neerings said it might have been related to heat tape on the house. He said damages will likely be expensive to repair.

Neerings said the fires are an important reminder about the hazards seasonal changes can bring.

“So nothing that's related to the two fires,” Neerings said, “but anytime we change seasons, coming from summer to fall and winter, we see more chimney fires and those types of related [fires] as people start to warm their house with, like, wood-burning stoves or even gas fireplaces.”

He said ensuring chimneys are clean and keeping anything flammable away from heaters are critical ways to avoid the most common causes of house fires.