SOUTH SALT LAKE — Two South Salt Lake residents were awakened Saturday morning by a woman pounding on their door, telling them their house was on fire.
Candace Nelson woke her two young sons, and they rushed out of the house at 437 E. Lambourne Ave. (3140 South). Matthew Roblez, meanwhile, evacuated his apartment in the house's basement. Once they were outside, they saw smoke billowing from the roof and called authorities
"I grab my boys; wake my kids up, who can sleep through anything," said a teary-eyed Nelson, who moved in less than a month ago and hadn't finished unpacking.
She was relieved her family was safe.
"Everything that's not replaceable is here," she said.
"There was no alarm," said Roblez. "I could just barely see smoke coming out of the eaves.... It could have been a lot worse. It was just barely starting."
An electrical fire had started in the attic, said South Salt Lake fire battalion chief Terry Addison. Firefighters received a call about 7:24 a.m. and had contained the fire in the attic within half an hour, he said. Still, damage to the roof made the house uninhabitable, he said.
Addison said the house did have working smoke alarms, but they weren't activated because the fire hadn't spread into the house.
"It looks like it was contained in the attic area," he said. "There was no damage to the interior."
The Red Cross was assisting Nelson, and Roblez had found a place to stay, Addison said.
E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com