Neighbors say the Ogden structure, which was destroyed in a fire, was a magnet for the homeless | Local news

OGDEN – The apartment complex taking shape next to her home was a magnet for the homeless before it was destroyed in a suspicious fire late Monday night, says Tina Veloz.

So did the abandoned building that borders the property of the apartment complex, which was destroyed in a fire on Monday afternoon just a few hours earlier, said Anthony Higareda, who lives two plots below the apartment complex and next to Veloz’s house.

“They came in and out every night. Different types of people came in and out, ”Higareda said on Wednesday.

Authorities say little at this early stage as investigations continue into the massive fire that destroyed the four-story, 40-unit home on the 300 block of 28th Street between Grant Avenue and Washington Boulevard. The other building burned down earlier in the day. There were no major injuries in either of the incidents, but three houses to the west of the apartment building were destroyed when that building burned, including the Veloz and Higareda houses to the east.

Kevin Brown, the fire department marshal of Ogden, said investigators were on site for part of the day on Wednesday, examining fire patterns, among other things, and trying to find a possible starting point for the fire. He also said several witnesses told the authorities that they too believed that homeless people had used the unfinished apartment building.

However, it is too early to give definitive answers. Likewise, Veloz does not know what led to the turning point, although their house is adjacent to the grounds of the apartment complex and has suffered considerable damage. “I do not know what happened. I slept, ”she said.

Higareda will be left to the authorities to determine if there is a link between the two separate fires.

Anyway, both he and Veloz said the construction site had been a bit of a problem lately, bait for the homeless the night after the construction workers left for the day. Plywood or particleboard siding had been attached to the studs of the new structure, neighbors say, but windows, doors, and drywall weren’t installed yet for easy access.

Veloz said that people entering the building at night would make noise, harass them and stop them. She once remembers that a seemingly homeless woman walked into the construction site with numerous bags. “A lot of noise, a lot of problems,” she said, especially in the last few weeks after the shell had been installed.

Veloz raised the issue with website developer Elite Craft Homes of Farmington with no apparent success. A company representative did not immediately respond to a call from the standards auditor on Wednesday asking for comment. “He said, ‘Don’t worry. We install windows and doors. There won’t be a problem, ‘”Veloz said.

Despite everything, Higareda was looking forward to the completion of the apartment building in the modest neighborhood. The presence of homeless and apparently mentally ill people is a constant problem. The new structure “wanted to bring a little life here,” he said.

‘WHERE ARE WE GOING?The flames on Monday and Tuesday at times created a huge wall of fire that stretched high into the sky. The fire, which attracted a huge crowd of onlookers, not only destroyed the apartment building that was taking shape into charred embers and ashes, but also destroyed three brick houses to the west. The remains of the three houses were razed Tuesday as a safety precaution, although the burned-out hulls of three cars remained on the site.

On the other side of the building, apparently upwind, the vinyl siding of Higareda’s house melted even though he still lived in the house.

In the meantime, Veloz said her house was uninhabitable, at least for the time being, due to smoke and water damage. “It stinks badly. Everything is wet, “she said during a home visit on Wednesday. In addition, four cars parked in the driveway of the residential building suffered severe heat damage on the sides of the residential property.

The Red Cross provided Veloz, her husband and their son with accommodation for one night. But on Wednesday morning she wasn’t sure what she was going to do. “We have nowhere to go. We don’t have a place to cook. We’re on the street, ”she said.

Worsening your worries, repairing the house while insured, will take time. “That won’t be fixed overnight. It will take months. Where are we going in the meantime? ”She said.