SALT LAKE CITY — Chris Jensen was in the shower when she heard a neighbor outside yelling for her to get out.
"I heard a loud explosion and then flames were shooting higher than the trees," she said. "It was like 'boom-boom.' "
Jensen grabbed the first shirt and pair of pants she could find, then grabbed her dog and got out, leaving everything else behind.
"There was nothing valuable enough to save. Jewelry, passports … I just left them. I just grabbed me and the dog and ran," she said.
Jensen's home was one of eight evacuated, in addition to four structures that were damaged or destroyed in a three-alarm fire on a narrow street in Salt Lake's Central City neighborhood Monday. The fire, which caused an estimated $500,000 in damage, quickly spread from house to house before crews were able to bring it under control.
Just after 2 p.m., fire crews were called on a report of an explosion and flames shooting from the attic of a home at 753 S. Roberta St. (240 East). The first arriving crews heard additional explosions, said Salt Lake City fire spokesman Scott Freitag.
Investigators believe the fire started outside in the narrow alley between the two northern homes, Freitag said, in a kind of storage area. The exploding sounds heard by neighbors and others were believed to have been from stacks of tires, he said. Two propane tanks were found in the same area after the fire was out, but they did not explode.
The cause of the fire was still under investigation Monday evening.
Whitney Germaine said she heard three explosions.
"I just thought, 'Holy (expletive), there's fire! Maybe I should get the hose, maybe I should leave,' " she said.
Heavy flames quickly spread to the structures on either side of the burning house, to the north and south.
Cynthia Martinez was at home in a duplex at 741 S. Roberta Street when she started smelling smoke about 2 p.m. She was unsure how the fire began but said the man who lived in the adjoining apartment said something about a gas tank exploding.
Martinez's duplex was called a total loss by fire officials, as was the house next door where the fire was believed to have started, Freitag said. The other duplex to the south of the burning house at 755 South and 757 South suffered fire damage to the attic and smoke damage throughout. But Freitag said firefighters made a "great stop" in the attic of the structure, preventing the fire from going any further.
About 15 people, including some children, got out of the burning buildings safely, according to residents. One woman was reportedly treated at the scene for smoke inhalation. It was unclear Monday if she was a resident of one of the burning homes.
Thick smoke from the fire filled the neighborhood, drifting over to 800 South. A large radius was blocked off to traffic around the fire area.
Several residents of the homes that burned were at work when the fires started. They were called and returned immediately, only to break down in tears and hold their face in their hands when they saw the damage.
Four additional homes on Roberta Street and four homes along 300 East, directly behind the ones that burned, were evacuated.
Jensen, who lives on 300 East, watched Monday afternoon as a fire hose stretched from the street, through her backyard, over a fence and to the burning structure. Ash from the fire covered her yard.
"I thought it was going to catch fire," she said.
Next door, Germaine was facing many of the same problems.
"I was watching TV and I heard a giant boom. All I saw was just fire," she said. "You just feel really close all of a sudden," she said of the proximity of the burning homes near her own.
"The flames were up higher than the trees," said witness Daniel Burke. "It was probably 40, 50 feet high. I've never seen fires like that before."
Crews initially tried to fight the fire from the roof, but it was spreading so fast they eventually had to evacuate, Freitag said.
Firefighters worked for about an hour before gaining control of the fires.
e-mail: preavy@desnews.com