Ashes from hot dog cookout ignite house fire in Taylorsville
Jul 21, 2023, 9:53 PM | Updated: 10:45 pm
TAYLORSVILLE, Utah — There are some lessons in life we all learn the hard way.
Just ask Sharli Kingston.
“We were just celebrating,” she said.
The next time she and her family have a hot dog roast in their driveway, there is no doubt they will make sure the ashes from their cookout are truly out.“We sprayed it with the hose, we thought the fire was out, and it was out, but I guess we hadn’t soaked the ashes down,” she said.
Those ashes were in garbage cans and as hot as it was in Taylorsville Friday afternoon, they began smoldering and then reignited. The fire from the garbage cans spread to pine needles along the driveway, then to trees, which took the flames up to the roof above the garage.“These pine needles are fuel and this is a good reminder to make sure we have our yards clear this 24th of July during the fireworks season,” said Ryan Love, who is a firefighter with Unified Fire Authority.
Firefighters are concerned about this upcoming Pioneer Day weekend because of what they saw with fireworks during the 4th of July holiday weekend.“We actually went on numerous dumpster fires all night long,” said Love. “That tells me people aren’t properly disposing of their fireworks.”Just like with the ashes from a cookout on the Taylorsville house fire, Love said hot fireworks in a garbage can do the same thing.
“What we encourage people to do is bring out a 5-gallon bucket and some sort of water source,” said Love. “Submerge your fireworks all night long. 24 hours. If it is too hot to touch, it is too hot to put in the garbage can.”
That’s what Kingston says she’ll do next time.
There is enough damage to her home that the family will have to stay somewhere else until repairs can be done.
There is also some fire damage to the house next door.
She is hoping by telling her story others will learn her lesson.
“Make sure everything is soaked down really good and wet before you put it in the garbage or anything like that,” she said. “I hope this doesn’t happen to anybody else.”
