Fire departments work together to fight local fire

Thanks to a new automatic aid agreement with several fire departments throughout the valley, the Logan City Fire Department contained a condominium complex fire within 15 minutes Wednesday, officials say.

At 12:38 p.m., North Logan and Smithfield fire departments assisted LCFD at a structure fire at 109 Pen Hurst Drive in Logan, said Jeff Peterson, LCFD assistant fire chief.

“It made all the difference on this fire and I had all the resources to do what needed to be done,” Peterson said. “I couldn’t be happier.”

The fire started after the owner of a 1983 Nissan jump-started his car in his garage with a battery charger and caught fire.

The fire went through the window of the garage and extended through a metal soffit into the attic of the unattached condominium 12 feet away, igniting insulation in the attic of one of the four condominium units.

“It is unusal for a fire to spread from a detached garage to another building that fast,” Peterson said.

Firefighters removed bedroom floors and extinguished the fire before it spread to any of the other units. Damage was contained to only one apartment, estimated at $50,000 total.

Everyone in the building was evacuated before the fire departments arrived. One Logan firefighter received a minor injury while at the scene of the fire.

LCFD began the aid agreement with North Logan, Smithfield and Cache County fire departments about a month ago, Peterson said.

It allows two other fire engines from other cities to assist in an initial dispatch and doesn’t require any additional funding.

“It’s making better use of the resources at hand,” Peterson said.

-mmackay@cc.usu.edu

A garage near a condominium burned after a car parked it in started on fire at 109 Pen Hurst Drive in Logan. Fire crews from Logan, North Logan and Smithfield. (Jessica Alexander)