Neighbors, a fire hydrant and firefighters stopped a fire that destroyed a detached garage from spreading to a home, corrals and other buildings on the property.
Mike Quayle was helping a neighbor move when he smelled burning plastic Saturday afternoon.
"I looked around and saw smoke coming from the garage," Quayle said.
He ran to the home at 490 N. 6700 West, West Warren, yelling to his wife to call 911.
Mark Martinez, the homeowner, was west of the garage when he said he saw flames shooting up the north side of the garage, engulfing a camper sitting on pallets.
Within minutes, neighbors arrived to rescue what they could from the building.
Men and women grabbed a 25-foot boat and pulled it to the street. Others grabbed a trailer and pulled it out of the garage.
"They were amazing," Mark Martinez said.
It took 12 minutes for fire crews from Weber Fire District and Ogden Fire Department to arrive, said Weber Fire Capt. Casey Naef. They got the first 911 call at 3:06 p.m. and the first engine arrived at 3:18 p.m.
Naef said because the flames had engulfed the building, fire crews had to go on defensive mode, keeping water on the building until the fire went out so it would not spread to the home or other buildings.
Heat from the blaze melted plastic shutters on a shed and siding on a barn to the east.
Mark Martinez said the county installed a fire hydrant close to his home a year ago.
"Without a fire hydrant we would have had to use a water tender," Naef said.
A water tender is a fire engine tank that holds 3,000 to 5,000 gallons of water or, in other words, a mobile fire hydrant, he said.
But even with a fire hydrant close, fire crews could not save the building or the items not rescued by neighbors -- tools, about 3,000 rounds of ammunition, saddles, family photographs, antiques or Christmas decorations.
"All of my Christmas decorations are gone," said Cara Martinez. "All the Christmas stuff, the tree, the bulbs, everything. I really decorate for Christmas. I have grandkids now."
Cara Martinez was at her 3-year-old grandson's birthday in Roy when a neighbor called about the fire. She tried calling her husband, but he did not answer the phone.
"I'm just glad you're OK," Cara Martinez said, as they looked at what remained.
"I did grab my fiddles," Martinez said.
Naef said the fire spread from burning garden waste to the camper and then to the garage. No damage estimate was immediately available.
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