Woman and 2 dogs killed in fire at Provo building that should have been unoccupied

A woman and two dogs were killed in a early morning fire in Provo that destroyed a structure and shut down State Street for several hours.

The call came in at 4:10 a.m., and fire crews arrived to find the structure near 1440 S. State St. — a commercial building that had been remodeled into a residence — “fully involved,” said Deputy Fire Chief Gary Jolley. “Our first units had fire 30 to 40 feet in the air.”

One resident escaped the fire and “told us that the other one was inside,” Jolley said. Crews later found the body of a 48-year-old woman in the house.

It’s believed they were the only people who lived there, although crews disconnected power to the building Tuesday, and it should have been unoccupied, according to the fire department.

The building apparently had no working smoke alarms and few places to exit. The fire department estimated damages totaled about $200,000.

“It’s a pretty tough piece of property,” Jolley said. Four hours after they arrived on the scene, crews were “just now extinguishing the fire in all the nooks and crannies.”

Officials still are investigating the cause.