SOUTH WEBER -- Christmas lights hung from the blackened, barren branches of the tree outside the house on South Weber Drive.
Black smoke wafted up through the roof, while water dripped from the melted rain gutter onto the concrete driveway and the skeletal remains of a bicycle laid outside a two-car garage that was destroyed by fire Friday afternoon.
"Life goes on," said Randy McKnight, who had planned to spend the day installing a new fuel pump in a 1993 Isuzu Rodeo.
He had a kerosene heater going and the door to the garage closed, he said, when fuel spilled and the garage caught on fire.
"It was like a flash fire," said McKnight, whose denim jacket was blackened by the blaze. His first thought, he said: "It's time to get out."
He got himself, his wife and his daughter out of the house and to a neighbor's.
Calls to 911 came in at 12:39 p.m., said South Weber Fire Capt. Travis Nicholson. Firefighters arrived at 12:43 p.m., and Riverdale and Layton fire crews arrived shortly afterward.
When fire crews arrived, the garage was engulfed in fire and smoke, Nicholson said.
Harold Mahany, who lives east of the McKnights, said he had gone out to put mail in his mailbox when he saw the flames.
"It was burning like crazy," he said. "It was really blazing, and there was lots of smoke."
Nicholson said fire crews were able to quickly extinguish the fire and had been worried the fire would end up in the house, which is attached to the garage.
The cold weather did not hamper firefighters' efforts, but the fire did extensive damage to the home's electrical system, Nicholson said.
Nicholson said fire officials do not have an estimate on how much damage the fire caused, but it will be some time before the McKnights will be able to live in their home.
He advises those who work in garages with heaters to be sure there is proper ventilation.
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