WASHINGTON CITY — A fire in the attic of an insurance business on Telegraph Street in Washington City Thursday afternoon resulted in a multi-agency response and blocked a portion of the road for nearly two hours.
Several agencies, including police and two fire engines from Washington City, as well as firefighters from St. George and Hurricane Valley, arrived within a few minutes of the initial call around 12:50 p.m., and mop-up was underway at 1:20 p.m. All was clear by 2:40 p.m.
The westbound side of Telegraph Street near 127 East Telegraph was blocked off for those two hours while traffic was diverted.
Washington City Fire Batallion Chief Dan Cazier said a quick response kept the fire contained to the attic of the one-story structure belonging to the Extra Mile Insurance Agency, and the mention of the multiple agencies arriving brought a smile to his face.
“Oh, it’s great,” he said. “We love our neighbors and we work together quite often and we have very good working relationships with each of them.”
Telegraph Street was filled with multiple fire vehicles, with the water from the firefighting efforts pouring down the street. The evidence of the fire itself was minimal other than wisps of smoke coming out of soot-circled vents at the top of the residential-home-like structure on both sides.
Cazier said the cause of the fire is under investigation.
Tanner Tuttle, a worker at Extra Mile Insurance, told St. George News the first signs of the fire came in sound and scent.
“There was a pop and then a poppie-zoom thing. And then the little storage room started smelling like plastic and the lights wouldn’t work,” Tuttle said. “There was something going on.”
Usually at a fire scene, an insurance agent comes out to assess the damage. But in the case of the fire Thursday, the agents were already in the building. But they said they will still go through the same procedure they would use with customers including a separate assessor.
“We’ll see how good of an agent we are, I guess. So now we get to, you know, figure out which restoration company that has done the best job for our clients and probably pick them,” Tuttle said. “We have a good idea of who’s done good work for customers in the past, and so we kind of know the best ones in the town.”
Photo Gallery
Inside the Extra Mile Insurance Agency on Telegraph Street during a fire that was limited to the attic area, Washington City, Utah, Dec. 22, 2022 | Photo by Chris Reed, St. George News Wisps of smoke come out of a vent to the attic during a fire at the he Extra Mile Insurance Agency on Telegraph Street, Washington City, Utah, Dec. 22, 2022 | Photo by Chris Reed, St. George News Wisps of smoke come out of a vent to the attic during a fire at the he Extra Mile Insurance Agency on Telegraph Street, Washington City, Utah, Dec. 22, 2022 | Photo by Chris Reed, St. George News Firefighting equipment at the scene of an attic fire at an insurance agency on Telegraph Street, Washington City, Utah, Dec. 22, 2022 | Photo by Chris Reed, St. George News Washington City and St. George firefighters on the scene of an attic fire at an insurance agency on Telegraph Street, Washington City, Utah, Dec. 22, 2022 | Photo by Chris Reed, St. George News Firefighters from multiple agencies at the scene of an attic fire at an insurance agency on Telegraph Street, Washington City, Utah, Dec. 22, 2022 | Photo by Chris Reed, St. George News At the scene of an attic fire at an insurance agency on Telegraph Street, Washington City, Utah, Dec. 22, 2022 | Photo by Chris Reed, St. George News Firefighters from multiple agencies at the scene of an attic fire at an insurance agency on Telegraph Street, Washington City, Utah, Dec. 22, 2022 | Photo by Chris Reed, St. George News
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