OGDEN, Utah — Kerry Jacobson has lived at Lesley’s Mobile Home Park for 26 years. He was sound asleep in his bed early Sunday morning when he heard what he describes as an explosion.
“My curiosity got the better of me so, I went and looked out my front door and this place was fully engulfed,” Jacobson said.
Riverdale Fire Chief, Jared Sholly, says police were notified around 3:55 Sunday morning of a possible explosion that occurred at the Riverdale trailer park.
“During our en route we were informed a trailer was involved and people reporting there was some loud bang or explosion,” Chief Sholly said. “Just prior to the fire on arrival we had a well involved trailer.”
While many may say they’ve never seen anything like this before, Jacobson says he has. He recalls a neighboring trailer to the one that exploded catching fire a few years ago.
“For as long as I’ve been here, seen some pretty suspect things going on,” Jacobson said. “We’ve also had a problem with drug addiction and things, so another thing that occurred to me was maybe it was a clandestine meth lab.”
Chief Sholly confirmed the fire was not caused by a meth lab, but he says the fire is suspicious.
“We didn’t have any occupants inside having an explosion occur inside of a trailer that’s not occupied,” Sholly said. “This type of explosion we’re looking at all different things and we’ve ruled out what appears to be accidental.”
Jacobson believes the park owners could do more to prevent fires and crime in abandoned lots at the park.
“It’s the park’s responsibility for any abandoned place that’s here to be cleaned up and they haven’t abided by their own rules. There’s a lot of people that still live here that feel letdown,” Jacobson said.
Fox 13 News reached out to the Mobile Park for comment but have yet to hear back.
Chief Sholly says they are sending the evidence they gathered from the trailer to the Utah Fire Marshal’s Office for further investigation.
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