Kearns home burns, sending firefighter to hospital

A firefighter had been released from the hospital and cleared to return to work Tuesday after a sudden wind shift from a Kearns house fire engulfed him in thick smoke overnight.

Unified Fire Authority Battalion Chief Brian Anderton said crews rushed to a blaze in the vacant home near 4800 West and 5000 South about 10:45 p.m. Monday. They arrived to find flames pouring from the attic and roof.

Crews initially entered the home, but were pulled back for safety reasons and focused on dousing the fire from the outside and keeping it from spreading to adjacent residences.

"We actually got the fire out pretty quickly, but wind gusts pushed a lot of that smoke down to where our crews on the outside had trouble even seeing the home through it," Anderton said. "It was one of those gusts where one of our guys got a little bit too much smoke."

That firefighter was taken to the hospital, treated for smoke inhalation and then released.

The cause of the fire was under investigation.

No damage estimates were immediately available, but Anderton indicated the home's attic and roof were extensively burned.

remims@sltrib.com

Twitter: @remims