Early morning duplex fire kills former U. professor
The Salt Lake Tribune
1/10/2005
By Jason Bergreen
A three-alarm fire ripped through a Salt Lake County duplex early
Sunday, killing one man and causing the evacuation of the neighboring
family.
Inside the home was Leonardo Alishan, 53, a poet and former University
of Utah professor. Friends of Alishan were at the charred home Sunday
and said Alishan lived there alone. His family is traveling to Utah to
make funeral arrangements, said Zorheh Aminian, whose husband was a
close friend of Alishan’s.
The fire started about 2:30 a.m. in the basement of the duplex and
caused about $200,000 in damage, Unified Fire Authority Capt. Greg
Reynolds said. Alishan’s remains were recovered about 10 a.m. The cause
of the fire is under investigation.
Fire crews arrived at 7274 S. Ponderosa Drive two minutes after
neighbors smelled smoke and called 911, Reynolds said. After forcing the
front door open, firefighters saw smoke and noticed the floor was
unstable – one firefighter’s foot went through the floor when he tried
to enter – but saw no flames.
A second attempt was made to enter through the back door, but it was
quickly abandoned when firefighters noticed thick, black smoke near the
floor and felt intense heat – an indication a “flash over” was about to
occur, Reynolds said.
`That’s when everything in the room hits its ignition temperature at
once,’ he said. `Everything catches fire.’
No firefighters were injured in what Reynolds described as a `slow
explosion.’
A few minutes later the first floor collapsed into the basement,
Reynolds said.
`The whole level’s gone,’ he said.
Crews were able to extinguish the fire by about 4 a.m. The blaze also
caused minor damage to a nearby unit.
Alishan was originally from Tehran, Iran. He came to the United States
for graduate studies in 1973 and taught at the University of Utah from
1978 to 1997, including courses on Persian literature and comparative
literature, according to the Lynx Magazine Web site. He received
distinctions as a professor twice, Aminian said. He received a faculty
fellow award from the University of Utah for the 1994-1995 school year.
Alishan published two books of poetry. The first of which, “Dancing
Barefoot on Broken Glass,” was published in 1991. “Through a Dewdrop”
was published in 2002.
Tribune reporter Michael Westley contributed to this report