WEST VALLEY CITY — Alan Marshall had a hard time explaining his emotions as he watched firefighters from across the street extinguish the last flames coming from the only home he has ever known.
"It hasn't set in that my house is half burned down," Marshall, 49, said.
Around 6:15 p.m., Marshall said a pizza delivery girl ran up to his house at 3732 S. 5600 West panicked, telling him and his daughter, Denice, 17, that their unattached garage was on fire. The pizza delivery girl grabbed the hose, handed it to Marshall and called 911.
"Who knows how long it would have gone on if she hadn't stopped," said Marshall, who said he tried to put the fire out with the hose, but he said the flames just became larger. He said he quickly dropped the hose and ran to get his four kids out of his home.
Twenty-five firefighters from three cities responded to the blaze, said Assistant Chief Kris Romijn with the West Valley City Fire Department. Neighbors said it seemed like it took quite a while to get the water going, adding that the water pressure in their neighborhood is quite low, but firefighters said it always takes a little time to get water out of a fire hydrant.
It took about 90 minutes to stop the fire completely, and by then, the garage had completely burned. The fire had spread across the grass, up a large tree above the garage and through the top half of the house.
Marshall's daughter, Jennifer Marshall-Santilan, 26, lives in West Jordan and said she came over as soon as her younger sister called her. She said her great-great-grandfather built the house, and she was "bawling" all the way over.
Marshall-Santilan said she didn't know yet if the Siamese black cat she had given her dad 16 years ago was alive or not.
While firefighters are still investigating the cause of the fire, Romijn said he believes it started outside of the garage.
"It's heart breaking," Marshall said. "I grew up in that house."
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