Family displaced by house fire in Cedar City

Scene of a fire at a residence near 300 East and 200 South, Cedar City, Utah, Sept. 3, 2020 | Photo by Paul Dail, St. George News / Cedar City News

CEDAR CITY — A fire that started in an attached shed caused extensive damage to a home in Cedar City Thursday evening.

Cedar City Fire Capt. Lowell Sorensen said the initial call came in shortly before 5 p.m. reporting a structure fire near the corner of 300 East and 200 South.

“We upgraded it to a second alarm pretty quickly when we realized what it was,” Sorensen told Cedar City News.

Although it was initially reported as a barn fire, the outbuilding involved was attached to the structure of the house itself. Nearby trees and other vegetation also caught fire, he said.

“We were able to stop the progression on it and extinguish the fire,” Sorensen said, adding that firefighters responding included the personnel assigned to three fire engines and one ladder truck.

The residents of the home were able to safely evacuate without injury, he said.

Scene of a fire at a residence near 300 East and 200 South, Cedar City, Utah, Sept. 3, 2020 | Photo by Paul Dail, St. George News / Cedar City News

However, the home sustained extensive damage and is currently uninhabitable, Sorensen said.

“They have been displaced from the home. They have another place to go stay with friends or relatives,” he added.

Traffic in the area was impacted for around 90 minutes while firefighters responded. Both 200 South and 300 East were temporarily closed to allow fire vehicle access and for fire hoses to be placed across the streets.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but Sorensen did say it appears to have started in the storage shed adjacent to the home.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2020, all rights reserved.

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