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- Fire claims life of 80 year old Nephi Woman
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TRAGIC FIRE DEATH • Jeanne Yates, age 80, died when her home on 700 North in Nephi caught on fire. Fire officials determinded that the fire started in the laundry room. The home was a complete loss and will be razed. Above, volunteer firemen fight the quick moving fire with high pressure hoses.
By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
An elderly Nephi woman died when her home, located at 570 East 700 North, was destroyed by fire Saturday morning.
Dead at the scene was Jeanne Yates who had recently celebrated her 80th birthday, said Brett Ostler, Juab County Fire Warden.
"The fire started in her laundry room," said Ostler.
He said the fire was attributed to her clothes drier which, he said, had been started the evening before, at approximately 5 p.m., by a family member who had visited the home to help out.
Later, the family member left the home for the day after making certain that Yates was comfortable. Ostler reported that family members provided care for Yates each day.
"She had been restricted to her bed the past nine months," said Ostler.
He said the fire department was summoned to the scene of the fire at 9:51 a.m. and were en route just three minutes later. They arrived on the scene at 9:56 a.m.
"Even with that quick response time," said Ostler, "we were not able to save the home."
It was a total loss, he said, and Yates did not have fire insurance. The family has indicated to him that the burned out structure will be razed.
"When we arrived at the scene, fire was coming out of every window," said Ostler.
When the fire was somewhat knocked down but was still not out, fire fighters were able to gain access and determine that Yates was dead. That was at about 10:30 a.m. By 12 noon, the fire was controlled. Fire fighters remained on the scene until 5 p.m.
"We still had a few hot spots," said Ostler.
The state fire marshal traveled to Nephi from Ogden and arrived at the fire scene at 1 p.m.
He, Ostler and Pat Baxter, the local medical examiner, followed burn patterns and indicators to determine that the clothes drier was the spot where the fire originated. The state fire marshal spent approximately four hours at the scene.
"The drier had not been moved for 40 years," said Ostler. "The house was clean and tidy but the clothes drier had not been moved."
The exhaust vent run from the dryer to where the vent exits the wall had also not been cleaned, he said.
A clogged dryer vent becomes a fire hazard when highly combustible lint backs up into the area where the gas burner or electric element could ignite it.
The Yates had cleaned the lint trap after every load but had not cleaned the vent system annually and were unaware that was the recommendation. Lint also can build up in the duct.
"I clean mine once a year," said Ostler.
Yates was taken by East Juab Ambulance to Central Valley Medical Center. The state medical examiner traveled to Nephi and identified Yates as the deceased using her dental records.
Yates had complained to her family, earlier, that she could smell something that she could not identify.
"The home did not have a smoke detector, however, in this case that may not have done much good," he said. "Mrs. Yates may not have been able to get out of the home in time even if the detector had gone off."
Yates was a neighbor, he said, and was a widow.
This is the first fatality caused by fire in Nephi City, said Ostler.
Boyd Howarth, Nephi, served as the record-keeper for the fire department for over 52-years and he could not remember that anyone had died inside city limits from a fire in all of that time.
Mona City has had two deaths caused by fire and there was one death in Juab County's West Desert caused when a home there burned.
Ostler said there were 15 fire fighters from Nephi on the scene and another five fire fighters from Mona also responded.
Nephi City Police assisted with traffic control. Utah Highway Patrol Officers and Juab County Sheriff's deputies also assisted.
"East Juab Ambulance was at the scene and provided monitoring for our fire fighters as well as transport for the vicitim," he said.
"It was a busy weekend for us," said Ostler. "Sunday morning a truck, pulling into one of the turkey sheds located on Dog Valley Hill, caught on fire and started one of the sheds on fire."
He said fire fighters spent four hours working on that blaze which, without figuring in the cost of the truck, caused approximately $20,000 in damages
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