SANDY — A Sandy neighborhood was stunned Monday after an early morning fire inside a garage claimed the life of a father of five.
Neighbors say Dr. Herbert Ungricht, 51, who was also an opthomologist and LDS bishop, was apparently putting things away in his garage just after 5 a.m. when his body caught fire for an unknown reason. Shortly after the fire started, there were several small explosions.
Despite many efforts by family members and neighbors to rescue Ungricht, they could not reach him.
"It was a nightmare," said Barbara Jones, a neighbor who was one of the first to arrive at the house. "I just wish we could have done more. It's a very frustrating thing."
Ungricht's wife, Yvonne, and four of their teenage daughters were able to get out of the house safely after calling 911.
The fire was reported at 5:08 a.m. at the house near 8400 South and 1900 East.
The cause of the fire was still under investigation. Investigators were guessing the several explosions heard from inside the garage may have been paint or aerosol cans.
Jones and her husband, Jeff, could see smoke and flames from their bedroom window. Jeff Jones tried to douse the flames with a garden hose, but his wife said it was like "using a squirt gun on a bonfire."
The heat and flames from the fire became so intense they partially melted a car and two trash cans in the driveway of the next-door neighbor.
Jeff Jones helped Ungricht's wife and daughters get out of the house and to safety across the street. Yvonne Ungricht was treated and released at a local hospital for burns on her hands and smoke inhalation. The daughters were not injured.
Barbara Jones said Yvonne Ungricht told her she was burned while trying to pat out the flames on her husband. At one point, Herbert Ungricht became separated from his wife and trapped inside the garage. His wife tried to open the door from the garage to her house, but it was too hot. Jones said Herbert Ungricht was "by the back stairs trying to get into the house."
Ungricht's wife and daughters were forced to evacuate after the smoke and heat became too much.
Neighbors said it was a chilling scene as small explosions kept going off with Ungricht still trapped inside.
"It's a horrifying experience to know there was someone in there you couldn't help," said neighbor Barbara Saylor.
Many neighbors were awakened by the screams of Ungricht's daughters as they watched helplessly from a lawn across the street.
The fire was contained mostly to the garage, but there is smoke damage throughout the house. Fire officials said Ungricht's wife and daughters would be staying with other family members for at least the next few days.
Ungricht was bishop of the 22nd Ward at the University of Utah, a ward for married students in the Salt Lake University First Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But neighbors remembered him mostly as a great family man.
"He was very good-hearted. A great guy, good dad, excellent husband," said Lisa Poulsen, a neighbor.
Ungricht had five daughters, four of whom still lived at home. One daughter had just returned home from an LDS mission and another was getting ready to go in a few weeks. Ungricht had just become a grandfather for the first time.
"It's such a tragedy," Jones said. "Such a horrific morning. It's something you don't want to have happen."
Neighbors were organizing a trust fund for the Ungricht family Monday afternoon.
"He was a very gentle, kind-hearted man," said Richard Porter, president of the Salt Lake University First Stake. "He will be missed."
Contributing: KSL-TV; E-mail: preavy@desnews.com