Local Fire Departments Band Together to Put Out Santaquin Main Street Business Fire

Pictured: Local firefighters gather together outside the Brumby's/Crazy Daisy complex on Main Street, Santaquin, following last week's fire. Photo courtesy Santaquin Fire Department

Several Santaquin Main Street businesses, including Brumby’s Hometown Cafe and Crazy Daisy Hair Salon, sustained heavy smoke and fire, along with some structural damage last Thursday morning, April 7.  Response arrived quickly and in large numbers, thanks in part to local fire departments banding together to take part in a new Automatic-Aid response plan.

Thursday’s was first spotted by a Santaquin Police Department officer on patrol.  After noticing smoke in the area, he headed in its direction.  “The officer radioed in to Utah Valley Dispatch to report visible smoke and flames,” according to Santaquin Fire Chief Stephen Olson.

A first alarm assignment was sent at 5:34 AM, consisting of suppression units from Santaquin, Payson, and Genola.  Through the Automatic-Aid response plan, which is taken part in locally by these fire departments, along with Goshen, calls for engines and trucks from the participating neighboring cities are automatically sent during the first dispatch for confirmed structure fires.  

“In short, this interprets to quicker response times of the ‘full assignment,’ because there is no delay in requesting for additional engines to help fight the fire,” said Chief Olson.  “For example, in the past, if a fire was reported in Santaquin, only one engine would be dispatched at first.  If more were needed, they had to be specifically requested.  Now, when a fire is reported meeting criteria that it’s an actual fire, Santaquin, Genola, and Payson are sent at once, all together.  It gets more help coming sooner, because sooner is when we need help, not later.”

Santaquin Fire/EMS units arrived to find smoke and flames spreading throughout the Brumby’s Hometown Cafe, located at 340 East Main, and extending into Crazy Daisy Hair Salon, which shares the building and is located just south of the restaurant.

It took approximately thirty firefighters close to twenty minutes to get the fire under control, according to Chief Olson.   The buildings had been unoccupied since managers closed the restaurant around  10 PM the night before.  “Thankfully, there were no injuries to the firefighters or the public,” he said.

Brumby’s sustained heavy smoke and fire damage, including structural damage.  The hair salon also had extensive smoke and  fire damage.  A laundromat and other adjacent suites had moderate to light smoke damage and are expected to re-open soon, according to Chief Olson.

“None of these businesses were equipped with fire sprinklers,” Olson said, adding that fire sprinklers are of great benefit to businesses and residences alike, because they can drastically reduce the life and property loss.

Fire investigators from the State Fire Marshal’s offices, Utah Fire, and Provo Fire were called to assist in determining the origin and cause, finding that it was accidental, originating from a preparation room on the Brumby’s side of the building.   

Santaquin fire truck outside Brumby's last week.  Photo courtesy Santaquin Fire Department

Story originally published in the April 13, 2016 edition of The Payson Chronicle.