By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
A home belonging to Mike and
Kathy Webb was destroyed by fire on Dec. 28.
Brett Ostler, Nephi City Fire
Chief, said the fire was reported at 1:26 a.m. by the
homeowners. The fire, in the 100 South 300 East block, began
in the home's kitchen said Ostler.
"Mike (Webb) had been asleep in
front of the television in the family room," said Ostler.
Webb reported hearing a loud
noise and waking up to notice the house was filled with
smoke, said Ostler. Webb then ran through the house and got
his wife, who was asleep in bed, out of the home.
On his way out, Webb picked up
the phone and dialed 911.
The first officer at the scene
had the sheriff's office page the Mona Fire Department, said
Ostler. He reported that the home was fully engulfed by the
fire by that time.
Ostler, on his way to his
vehicle, told the sheriff's dispatcher to call out the city
electric and gas departments to turn off the power and gas
so that those utilities would not add to the fire. He also
requested that East Juab Ambulance be paged to the
scene.
"As soon as I got to my truck I
had the Levan Fire Department paged out," said
Ostler.
The fire department had a
response time of four minutes, an excellent time, and had
the fire out in 20 minutes.
"The insurance company deemed the
home a total loss," said Ostler. "We valued it at
approximately $95,000."
When they arrived on the scene,
firefighters entered the home because they feared a daughter
was still in the home. However, she was visiting relatives
and, luckily, was not in the house.
"The family's two pet cats, which
had been part of the family for many years, both died in the
fire," said Ostler.
There were no human burn-related
injuries as a result of fire and, although there was a great
deal of smoke damage, firefighters were able to save much of
the rest of the structure of the home, other than the
kitchen.
Kathy Webb was transported to
Central Valley Medical Center and kept overnight for
observation.
Firefighters remained on the
scene for four hours to make certain the fire was completely
out.
He said that 25 firefighters were
at the scene and 15 of those were from Nephi.
"The state fire marshal came to
Nephi the day after the fire," said Ostler.
The fire marshal determined the
fire was, most likely, caused by a burning candle. However,
a coffee maker was plugged in and located near the candle
and the fire marshal did not rule that out as a
cause.
The Webbs remembered putting out
a couple of candles before Mrs. Webb retired for the night.
However, said Ostler, the Webbs do not remember if they had
snuffed out the candle in question.
"The fire marshal thought the
candle was the likely cause but he could not rule out the
coffee maker," said Ostler.
Ostler said the firefighters
would also like to thank the Women's Auxiliary for making
hot cocoa for firefighters.
"It really helps the morale of
the firefighters," said Ostler.
The Webb home was razed and a new
home will be constructed at the site.
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