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A house in the rural city of Beryl went up in flames Tuesday morning, but luckily no one was in the home when the fire occurred.
Iron County Sheriff Office Detective Sgt. Jody Edwards said the homeowner, who lives in the 100 block of 5200 N., called 911 just after 11:30 a.m. Tuesday. He had been several blocks away at his sister's house, Edwards said, and saw the smoke nearby.
"The homeowner [said] this was is his residence, no one was inside, and it appears to be a total loss already," Edwards said.
By the time volunteer firefighters could reach the home, Edwards said the house was already in flames and they were required to take a defensive approach, rather than focusing on salvaging the home.
A propane tank on the property nearby was concerning to officials, Edwards said, but they were able to keep flames and heat away from the 500 gallon tank. The fire was completely put out by about 3:30 p.m.
Edwards said late Tuesday that he and the state fire marshal and planned to enter the home to investigate where the fire began. He said preliminary indications was that the fire appeared in a back bedroom. He said the homeowner told officials that they did run a space heater in the back bedroom area, but that his wife thought she had turned it off.Beryl, which is about 35 miles northwest of Cedar City, is a very rural area, Edwards said, and when fires like this occur, they bring in trucks filled with water to extinguish the blaze.
"This is a big, wide-open area — miles before you see a house, a lot of farms and fields," he said. "There is not a lot of fire hydrants. Because of that situation, they have a number of water tenders."
The water tenders are diesel trucks that carry about 20,000 gallons of water. Several of the trucks are kept in the area and brought out to the scene of a fire. Edwards said the amount of water on the trucks was enough to douse Tuesday's fire in a reasonable time.