Living in a house or apartment where the utilities are shut off is illegal.
But it happens. And it can be dangerous.Salt Lake firefighters have been called twice this month to fires caused by devices used to light or heat dwellings where utilities have been shut off.
On Tuesday, a 61-year-old woman living in a rented duplex at 136 W. 1700 South escaped injury when fire engulfed the home's second floor.
Firefighters, arriving after dark, blamed the fire on one of several candles found burning inside the house, which has been without electricity for about three months. Natural gas service was disconnected the same day the fire broke out, said Salt Lake Fire Capt. Dan Andrus.
On Jan. 5, a house at 632 E. 700 South was destroyed after a camp stove caught the structure on fire. The 55-year-old owner had been living without utilities for about one year. He jumped from a second-story window, breaking his leg, to escape the fire.
Building and Housing Services inspector Brent Beutler said the two January fires do not mean the city's housing stock is riddled with candle-lighted, camp-stove-heated dwellings. Instances where people are living in houses or apartments without utility service are few.
City officials and county health officials often become involved when such circumstances crop up - if they find out.
"The thing that we usually find is that they're trying to heat their homes with their ovens or stove tops. It's a very serious fire hazard," said Eugene Devenport, enforcement supervisor for the Salt Lake County Health Department's bureau of sanitation and safety.
Taking into account who owns the property and why the utilities were shut off, inspectors can either order the utilities turned back on or force the occupants out.
Landlords sometimes use utility shutoffs to force unwanted tenants out, Devenport said.
The channels for landlords to evict tenants are well-established, said Salt Lake City Attorney Roger Cutler. A landlord who shuts off utilities to force out an unwanted tenant is on shaky legal ground, he said.
But the rules are not crystal-clear. Landlords are sometimes justified in cancelling utilities if nonpayment by the renter makes it so the landlord cannot pay the gas, light or water bill.
If the utilities are in a renter's name, or if the occupant owns the property, that person is responsible for keeping utilities connected and paid for or else the health department can close the property to occupancy, Devenport said.
Devenport's office gets a few calls from landlords, but the bulk of the complaints come from tenants seeking to force a landlord to turn their utilities back on. A majority of those calls come during winter heating months.
Landlords can shut utilities off in an emergency, if a hazard exists or if repairs are needed. But tenants must be notified in those cases, Devenport said, and other accommodations must be found for the renter.
Devenport's department has police authority to issue sanctions. He has seen judges give fines and even jail time - mostly to landlords. "We're not on either side. We don't represent landlords; we don't represent tenants."