Damage from an explosion at the Lehi Tech Apartments is visible Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024.
Dozens of people and families stood outside of the Lehi Tech Apartments in the chilly temperatures Tuesday morning after being evacuated due an explosion in one of the housing units.
The Lehi police and fire departments responded to the complex located at 200 South 1300 East, just east of the Main Street exit for Interstate 15, around 4:10 a.m. Tuesday.
According to a press release, Lehi police said the cause of the explosion is currently under investigation but noted that "circumstances are considered suspicious," though they didn't say what factors have aroused suspicion.
A photo provided by Lehi City shows what appears to be a unit on an upper floor of the complex with a window and balcony door blown off, with what looks to be a screen slumped over a railing.
Later Tuesday morning, authorities determined that there was no fire or blast in the explosion. "It was more of an overpressure, the explosion took out a fire sprinkler system so most of the damage is water damage," Lehi City spokesperson Jeanteil Livingston told the Daily Herald in a text message.
The apartment where the explosion occurred sustained window and interior damage. However, it was not deemed a total loss. An estimated cost of damages was unknown.
According to the release, the incident happened in an apartment occupied by a husband and wife.
The couple sustained minor injuries from debris, said Livingston, who provided an update on the situation late Tuesday morning stating that they were treated on the scene and were not taken to a hospital.
No one else was injured. But as a result of the explosion, water damage from the sprinkler system impacted apartments below the affected unit. Livingston said 90 families had to be removed from the building.
One neighbor who lives across the hall from the unit where the explosion happened said he and his family were awakened by blaring alarms going off in the building.
"(We were) just kind of in a panic, wasn't really sure what was going on. Didn't really seem like a whole lot other than just alarms," said the man, who asked to be identified only by his first name, Casey. "Everyone noticed that some police officers were running up the stairs, so I figured something's probably going on."
Casey said he, his wife and son managed to evacuate the building in the early hours of Tuesday morning and noticed what had happened.
"I'm guessing that some kind of explosion just knocked out a whole window frame of that building ... and it's kind of all we know, I guess, right now," he explained.
Casey said his unit was unaffected, though the incident caused him to miss work and his child to miss school since they couldn't retrieve their belongings from their apartment.
"We got a hockey game tonight that we're really trying to get to," he shared.
As of 9 a.m., Casey and his family, along with others, were still waiting outside the complex as fire crews and authorities assessed the damage.
The American Red Cross also was called out to the scene to provide aid to those in need.
"Our volunteers got here with comfort kits with different blankets, etc. ... ready to assist," said Benjamin Donner, executive director of the American Red Cross for central and southern Utah. "At the moment, they've been assisting with damage assessment on what exactly is that impact going to be. So we're in standby (mode) at the moment on what that next step is for those ... (who) are displaced."
Livingston said the Lehi Tech Apartments is allowing temporarily displaced families to stay in unoccupied units away from the scene of the incident until they are able to return to their homes. A timeline on when impacted residents could return to their units was unknown, Livingston said in a press release.