False alarm fire called in possible tenant-landlord dispute

Emergency crews respond to a false alarm fire, St. George, Utah, Oct. 15, 2016 | Photo courtesy of Marsha Anderson, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — Police and fire crews responding to a call reporting a structure fire Saturday morning arrived to find nothing burning, except possibly the relationship between a landlord and tenant.

The apartment building where emergency crews responded to a false alarm fire, St. George, Utah, Oct 15, 2016 | Photo by Ric Wayman, St. George News
The apartment building where emergency crews responded to a false alarm fire, St. George, Utah, Oct 15, 2016 | Photo by Ric Wayman, St. George News

At approximately 10:20 a.m., St. George Police responded to the call at a four-unit apartment building at 1195 W. 540 North.

The call was quickly canceled after responding personnel from St. George Fire Department discovered there was no fire.

Upon arrival, fire fighters knocked on the locked door of the reported unit, and when no one answered, they prepared to force entry. The tenant finally opened the door and said there was no fire, St. George Fire Capt. Brad Esplin said.

The call was reportedly made from the landlord of the building who said an individual called saying there was a fire in the unit and that the fire extinguisher did not put it out, Esplin said.

Fire crews left the area and handed the incident over to police who remained at the scene investigating the incident.

The apartment building where emergency crews responded to a false alarm fire, St. George, Utah, Oct 15, 2016 | Photo by Ric Wayman, St. George News
The apartment building where emergency crews responded to a false alarm fire, St. George, Utah, Oct 15, 2016 | Photo by Ric Wayman, St. George News

The male tenant of the apartment unit in question told police he had no knowledge of any fire or who would have called about it, St. George Police Sgt. Jordan Minnick said.

“But that person is in the process, it looks like, of being evicted,” Minnick said in reference to the tenant. “So it may be just a civil dispute between landlord and tenant.”

Police were unable to determine who made the initial call to the landlord, but the investigation is ongoing.

Minnick said hoax calls to St. George Communications Center are very rare, and he was surprised to learn of the incident.

This report is based on preliminary information provided by law enforcement or other emergency responders and may not contain the full scope of findings.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @STGnews

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2016, all rights reserved.

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!

7 Comments

  • .... October 16, 2016 at 5:25 pm

    Wow possibly being evicted ? I would like to see RealLowlife make sure it’s not because the tenant doesn’t have a job ! LOL

    • Bob October 16, 2016 at 8:36 pm

      love to see this guys rate of commenting trimmed way back

      • Bob October 16, 2016 at 8:37 pm

        nearly every story

      • .... October 16, 2016 at 11:08 pm

        Love to see this guy’s rate of commenting trimmed way back

  • .... October 16, 2016 at 11:09 pm

    More nonsense

  • .... October 16, 2016 at 11:10 pm

    God bless you Bob !

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.