Police: Someone is setting empty buildings on fire in Mantua amid wildfire season
Jul 19, 2024, 5:04 PM | Updated: Jul 20, 2024, 11:27 am
MANTUA — Police in Mantua have asked the Utah State Fire Marshal to investigate a string of recent fires they believe could be the result of arson.
Police said three fires and an unreported fourth have sprung up over the summer that appeared to be human-caused.
Early Thursday morning, a building under construction on Rocky Dugway Road burst into flames, waking homeowners who live mere steps away.
Given the dry vegetation and heat, the fire could have easily spread across the street and through the field to neighboring homes, as well as the miles of surrounding wilderness and campgrounds nearby.
“The heat was pretty intense,” Catherine Hanson, a nearby resident said. She told KSL she watched in fear as embers flew up from the burning building into the air.
The area is currently under a no-burn order as unprecedented heat waves and dry vegetation have made it vulnerable to the spread of wildfires.
Hanson’s home is a stone’s throw away from the area where the fire started. Given the rural location and time of the blaze, her home and others were put at risk.
“It was just so big, it was like a big fireball,” she said. “Pretty scary, to think of it being so close to where I live with my three girls and our family.”
It’s the third documented empty building that has burned down on Rocky Dugway Road in Mantua since June.
Police now believe there could have been more structures as well. “There’s a possibility there was a fourth,” said Dakota Midkiff, chief of the Mantua Police Department.
Another fire earlier this month occurred just down the street at an abandoned barn. The structure still has police tape wrapped around it.
“We think it was possibly ignited by a human with gasoline,” Midkiff said of the fire.
The state’s Fire Marshal wouldn’t comment but confirmed they were investigating the situation.
Police said the home that was under construction had losses of up to at least $100,000 from the blaze.
They are asking anyone who has video or CCTV footage of the fires to check it or send it in.
They also are asking anyone who may know more information to call the department at 435-734-3800 extension 0.
