Thursday, July 14, 2016

2-alarm fire destroys Lehi, Utah dentist’s office





By JENNIFER DOBNER | The Salt Lake Tribune
First Published Jul 13 2016 07:54AM • Last Updated Jul 13 2016 10:10 pm
LEHI, UTAH
A Lehi dentist's office won't be filling any cavities on Wednesday after an overnight two-alarm fire gutted its building.

Firefighters responded to a 911 call just before 10 p.m. Tuesday after a passerby spotted smoke coming from the building near 300 East and 100 North, Lehi Fire Chief Jeremy Craft said.

About 35 firefighters from four departments — Lehi, Saratoga Springs, Lone Peak and American Fork — needed more than two hours to extinguish the flames, he said.

Fire fighting efforts were complicated by the building's construction, which included a flat roof, covered by a pitched roof, which trapped the fire in between, he said.

The roof eventually collapsed and the building was ultimately deemed "a total loss," Craft said.

The cause of the fire was deemed accidental "due to an electrical issue," Craft said later Wednesday, adding that damages were estimated at $2.5 million.

No one was injured.

Craft said staff from the dentist's office noticed the smell of smoke as they were leaving for the day on Tuesday. No one called the fire department, however, because the parking lot had been re-paved the day before and staff assumed the smell was associated with the fresh pavement.