WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah — Several residents had to evacuate their apartments in the middle of the night when a fire broke out at an apartment complex off Decker Lake Drive.
Fire crews say a police officer nearby spotted flames around 2:30 AM at the complex near 2100 West 3100 South. He called it in to report it, and started getting people out.
“And then they realized they had one couple that was still trapped in an upper story. They pulled the police car close to the building, and then they got the occupants out onto the top of the police car and then out,” said WVC Battalion Chief Jed Peters.
“By the time I woke up the flames were big and the police were coming around and knocking and I’m sound asleep and I just looked out the window and thought ‘hey time to go away,'” said resident Fred Schaefer.
Many units are damaged by the flames; others are flooded with around 3 feet of water from crews fighting the blaze. Peters estimates the damage at least $1 million.
The American Red Cross is on site, and evacuated residents are being sheltered in a church across the street. Investigators were on the scene looking for the cause Monday morning.