This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Flames damaged two barns, two sheds and two trailers on Thursday in a Sanpete County town.
Dispatchers received the first call about the fire near 300 E. 300 South in Fairview about 3:12 p.m., when a storm had been moving through. Rep. Spencer Cox, R-Fairview, saw smoke billowing from a dilapidated barn as he was driving by it.
Responders, including Cox, put themselves between the burning barn and a hay barn still in good use, digging with shovels to protect it. But a stiff wind blew embers from the old barn into the eaves of the good one, igniting it, Cox said.
"I had never seen anything like it. It went in 20 seconds from a little bit of smoke to fully engulfed," Cox said. The fire also spread to the two sheds and two trailers.
Firefighters from four departments — Fairview, Spring City, Mount Pleasant and Moroni — had the fire under control within about 45 minutes, Cox said.
Cox said it was a miracle none of the nearby homes were damaged, except one that had some melted siding.
The cause is still under investigation said Fairview Fire Chief Jeff Cox (who happens to be Spencer Cox's cousin), though he noted that the storm had produced some dry lightning. Jeff Cox estimated that the fire caused at least $100,000 in damage.
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