Fireplace caused fatal Kaysville fire

Fire crews battle a house fire in Kaysville on Friday, Nov. 29, 2019. Firefighters later discovered the body of a 76-year-old man inside. He was the sole occupant of the home | Kaysville Fire Department

KAYSVILLE — A fireplace was responsible for sparking a house fire that killed a man in Kaysville this weekend, officials confirmed Sunday.

When crews responded to the home at 529 E. 250 North about 10:15 p.m. Friday, “they had pretty heavy fire involvement coming out of all the windows. They did what they could to knock it down as quickly as they could,” Kaysville Fire Capt. Aaron Shupe said.

The crews searched rooms where they thought the home’s owner, DeRay Taylor, 76, might be in as quickly as possible, but they weren’t able to find him in those rooms. He was ultimately found deceased in the middle of a hallway, Shupe said.

The State Fire Marshal’s Office determined the blaze was caused by the fireplace, according to the captain. There had been an open fire in the fireplace, and somehow the fire spread into the room, he said.

The toll such losses take on firefighters is great, Shupe said.

“It’s very difficult for all of us, whether you’ve been on the job for 20 years or you’ve been on the job for six months. It’s something very hard for all of us all the time,” he said.

It was the third fatal fire Shupe has responded to in his 20-year career.

“Whether it’s in your city or not, when you hear that call that there is possibly somebody in there, it turns everything up. It makes us want to save that person as much as we can, and so we are going to do everything we possibly can to try to get that person out. So it just makes it a lot harder when we can’t, when we are not able to get in there and get that person out,” he explained.

In regard to fireplace safety, Shupe said most newer fireplaces have safety switches and sensors.

“Just don’t do anything to override those safeties. Just keep any combustibles away, as far away as possible as you can,” he urged.

If you have an open fireplace, get a device that helps shield the opening, like a metal screen — “just whatever you can to keep everything away from the open flames,” Shupe said.

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