Resident jumps from third floor in Salt Lake City apartment fire

One person jumped from a third-floor balcony during a fire that engulfed a Salt Lake City apartment complex early Wednesday.

The jumper suffered minor injuries, said Salt Lake City Fire Capt. Dan Marlowe.

“The civilians I spoke to on scene didn’t know why they jumped. They didn’t seem to be in any apparent danger.”

A second person suffered injuries from smoke inhalation, Marlowe said.

The fire ignited about 2 a.m. in the Seasons at Pebble Creek, an apartment complex at 1616 Snow Queen Place — near 1700 West and 1700 South.

Marlowe said investigators don’t yet know what ignited the fire but that the blaze started in the interior of the top floor then spread to the roof.

“Once it got into the rafter system," Marlowe said, "it just went the length of the complex.”

It took firefighters about 90 minutes to extinguish the blaze. They remained on scene into the daylight hours dousing hot spots.

Twenty-four units had some amount of damage, Marlowe said, displacing about 40 people. The Red Cross is providing temporary shelter for those who were displaced.