This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A meal cooking on an unattended stove top caused $40,000 in damage and killed a cat in a Saturday morning blaze at a Salt Lake City apartment.
A woman living on the bottom floor of a two story apartment complex at 849 E. 600 South was cooking breakfast on the stove when she went to another room and decided to go lie down.
"She fell asleep while she was cooking and that is how the fire started," said Salt Lake City Fire spokesman Scott Freitag. "Whatever was cooking burned and caused the fire."
At about 9:30 a.m., the woman awoke to smoke and was able to safely get out of the apartment, but her cat died in the kitchen fire. A neighbor had seen the smoke and already called 911.
About 20 people were evacuated from the eight units in the complex while fire crews put out the fire. Fire damage was limited to the kitchen, however there was smoke and water damage to the rest of the unit as well as smoke damage to the unit above.
The woman whose apartment was charred in the fire and the occupants in the unit above her were relocated by the Red Cross. Everyone else at the apartment were allowed to go back in.
The cause of the fire was ruled accidental.
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