Two homes damaged after fire breaks out in Orem garage

OREM, Utah — Neighbors helped get a man out of an Orem home after hearing an explosion and seeing a large fire break out in a garage early Wednesday morning.

Battalion Chief Steve Pearson with the Orem Fire Department said they got a call reporting an explosion near 900 East and 1050 North around 4 a.m. Several residents then called to report the garage fire.

“I started to bang on the door and ring the doorbell because the whole garage has caught on fire, and then when the police finally showed up, I went to the next-door neighbor and started banging on their door,” said neighbor Noah Lowry.

Neighbors helped a grandfather get down from the upper floor of the home. Pearson said his granddaughter was already outside of the home.

Noah Lowry a neighbor took this video after he helped the people out of the house on fire in Orem #KSLTV pic.twitter.com/idmubipCaV

— Derek Petersen (@Derek_Photog) March 22, 2023

No injuries were reported, and Pearson said the cause of the fire is under investigation. The fire generated a “significant amount of heat” and damaged both homes. Pearson said there was a vehicle in the garage at the time of the fire as well.

Fire crews will remain at the scene through 7 or 8 a.m., according to Pearson.

“I expect we’ll be out here for the next hour to two hours, just making sure there’s no hot spots, make sure we don’t have a reignition and then try to recover possessions as best we can,” Pearson said.