CEDAR CITY — A residential building being used as a secondary guest house in New Harmony was destroyed in an early morning fire, officials said.
Firefighters were summoned to the scene just after 3 a.m. Friday, New Harmony Fire Chief Jim Banks told Cedar City News. Banks said the person who called 911 was a newspaper delivery driver who was driving by and noticed the flames.
“He was making the rounds out there and saw the fire, so he called dispatch,” Banks said, adding that dispatchers then called the owners of the property to wake them up.
Banks said the building that burned was the original home on the 5-acre property, located near 1950 South and 2500 East, before a newer, larger home was constructed in front of it.
“It’s like a guesthouse, a casita, that sits at the rear of the property,” Banks said, adding that while the owners were asleep inside the main house, the guest house to the west was unoccupied at the time of the fire.
Although the owners did have relatives who had been staying in the guest house, the younger couple was out of town at the time, Banks said.
“It had probably been burning for some time before anybody noticed it,” Banks said.
“The structure is going to be a total loss, but we had the fire knocked down probably within 15 minutes,” Banks said, adding that no other buildings nearby were affected and no injuries were reported.
Banks said Harmony Valley Fire District had 10 personnel responding.
“We also had one engine from Kanarraville and an engine from Cedar City assisting us,” he said.
Fire crews remained at the scene until approximately 8:30 a.m., Banks added.
The cause of the fire is believed to be electrical in nature, Banks said, noting that an investigator from the State Fire Marshal’s office was also on scene.
“There was a bookcase or something up against that wall, and something was plugged into that,” Banks said. “We don’t know if it was the house wiring, like the outlet that malfunctioned or maybe it was something that was plugged into it. There’s just too much damage right now. But it definitely started in that corner of the structure.”
Banks said that although the building did have a functional smoke detector, the alarm wasn’t able to be heard by the owners sleeping in the adjacent home.
Banks also offered a general safety reminder about electrical outlets.
“At Christmastime, where people are plugging in lights and extension cords, it’s really easy to overload outlets, with chargers and things like that,” he said. “So just be mindful.”
This report is based on statements from fire officials and may not contain the full scope of findings.
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