Neighbors, loved ones reflect on mother and son killed in Pleasant Grove house fire
Jul 17, 2024, 6:10 PM | Updated: 6:11 pm
PLEASANT GROVE — Neighbors and loved ones are providing new information about an elderly woman and her disabled adult son killed in a house fire Wednesday in Pleasant Grove.
The next-door neighbor witnessed the whole thing, even as firefighters tried to rescue them.
Jenny Crandall told KSL TV witnessing the fire put her in the panic. Around 2 a.m., she said she woke up from the lights from the fire trucks that had arrived at the home of her next-door neighbor Rosemary Pendley. She watched as crews rescued Pendley from the flames, even revive her at one point, then saw her rushed off to the hospital where she later died.
Crandall said it’s hard knowing the neighbor she loved isn’t coming back.
“It’s um, it’s, I’m sorry… it’s really upsetting to me because we’ve been neighbors for a lot of years, and I really loved her. She was a great, great woman, so positive and amazing we’re really going to miss her,” Crandall said.
Crandall also witnessed crews trying to save Pendley’s son Jesse, but he died at the scene.
According to the Pleasant Grove Fire Department, the fire broke out at the back of the house. It’s the firefighters understanding Jesse woke up, saw the flames and smoke, and called 911.
Neighbors told KSL TV the son was disabled and had lost the use of his legs, and Pendley had been fighting lung cancer for the last six years. One of their neighbors who helped her with odd jobs around the house said despite how hard things got Pendley always stayed positive.
“There’s never a day I stopped and talked to her or saw her at church or even when she’s having hard times, she’s just got a smile on her face and it just never ends,” said Kwin Walker.
Tough year for family
KSL TV also spoke with Pendley’s only surviving son, Blaine, off camera.
He said the last year was harder for their family than you’d think.
His sister died, who neighbors said also had lung cancer, his other brother died in a car accident, and then Jesse and their mother died from the fire, all within 12 months.
As for what caused the fire, firefighters believe it was likely an electrical fire, but the State Fire Marshal is still investigating, which could last a couple of days.
