By EMS1 Staff
SALT LAKE CITY — Thanks to the sharp sense of smell of a medic engine crew, a potentially fatal fire was quickly doused Sunday.
The crew smelled smoke early Sunday and found the fire soon after driving around the neighborhood. Smoke could be seen coming out of the attic.
“I think every firefighter knows the difference between a leaf fire or a house fire, it’s something that after you’ve been on a couple of fires you know,” Salt Lake Fire Capt. Channing Jones told Good4Utah.
The smoke detectors in the home appeared to not have been working; when crews knocked on the door, the five adults living in the house were still asleep.
When firefighter-paramedic Val Thometz entered the home, she said, “I quickly told them their house is on fire, grab something warm quickly and let’s go.”
All five adults left the house unharmed. Thometz said had the fire continued to grow, the house’s ceiling would have collapsed and trapped whoever was in the basement.