PLEASANT VIEW — “Let me tell you what’s going to happen,” Deputy Leonard Call, of the North View Fire Department, told Chris Wilson on Saturday afternoon as they stood outside Wilson’s flame-engulfed home at 448 W. Pleasant View Drive.
“Your house is going to burn down,” he said in as soothing a tone as possible.
More than 20 firefighters from four departments battled the blaze for more than an hour at the single-family home. The grass and home were soaked from their efforts, but the firemen, most still wearing their protective gear, now stood back. “It looks like the house is going to implode, so we’ve asked everyone to stand back for their safety,” Call said.
“This is going to end up being a total loss,” said Fire Chief Lynn Froerer, of the North View Fire Department. “Whatever is left is not going to end up having any value. I don’t dare put anyone inside. The fire won this time.”
Wilson, 31, purchased the brick and green-siding ranch house a couple months ago, intending to make upgrades and repairs and to keep it in the family.
He was living there with his grandparents — Stan and Marie Wilson, 90 and 84, respectively — who built the house in 1954. The house was valued at $220,000 for tax purposes, Chris Wilson said.
The fire seems to have started in a basement storage room and burned extremely hot until flames burst through to the ground floor, then into the attic.
Chris Wilson was in the kitchen when he noticed the smoke and immediately moved his grandparents out of their bedroom.
All made it out safely, taking only medical oxygen tanks and a single box of photographs.
Wilson’s son was in an outbuilding on the half-acre property and was never in danger, he said.
“I had a plumber come this morning and was having an electrician come later next week,” Wilson said as he watched smoke stream out from under the roof. “I already put in a few thousand dollars replacing windows and gutters.”
Fire engines arrived from the Weber Fire District and the Ogden, North View and Plain City fire departments.
Paramedics checked out the elder Wilsons, who waited inside a neighbors house, and Chris Wilson, who watched his recent investment turn to ash. None of the Wilsons suffered significant smoke inhalation.
Chris Wilson stood near a fire engine on the blocked-off street as two golf carts whizzed over the manicured greens of the course across the street.
“At least everyone is safe,” he said.
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