Historical Lehi
The day Lehi’s Main Street nearly burned down
Lee Anderson | Lehi Historical Society
During the summer of 1931, Utah was experiencing severe drought. Utah Lake was drying up and the reservoir that supplied Lehi’s water was nearly empty. On July 20, two young boys, John and Reid Wilkin, (around two and five years old) were in their barn, located on 200 West just north of the present-day bakery parking lot, playing with matches. Around 5 p.m., the inevitable happened and their barn caught fire.
The Lehi Fire Department was called but not before the fire spread to the Hammer’s old livery stable that was being used to store Ralph Smith’s school bus (current Lehi Bakery parking lot). Sparks from the fire quickly spread to the roofs of other buildings which also began burning. Unfortunately, due to the lack of water, the firemen’s hoses only produced a small stream of water, so the American Fork Fire Department was called to help.
Small blazes started on the roofs of Inez (Hammer) Peterson’s home, Bob Robert’s Barber Shop, Lehi Drug Store, Lehi Bakery and The Cozy Theatre (where Pioneer Party is currently located). Sparks flew across Main Street starting Larsen’s Meat Market, the Darling Hotel and Gilchrist Hardware (the Colonial House building) on fire. Embers traveled further south and set the barn and sheds of William Larson and Joseph Dorton’s chicken coops, which contained about 1500 birds, on fire.
The two fire departments were soon overwhelmed, but Lehi’s citizens quickly rushed in to help. The school bus was rescued from the burning building while several people began moving furniture out of Inez Peterson’s home in case her home was lost, thankfully, it was saved. An army of men and boys armed with garden hoses, buckets, and wet sacks scrambled on the roofs of nearby buildings and fought small blazes tarted by the countless flying sparks.
For ninety long minutes the battle against the fire waged before it was finally brought under control. Through the efforts of the two fire departments and Lehi citizens, the majority of the buildings were saved. The only structures lost were the Wilkin’s barn, the livery stable, and the barn and sheds of William Taylor.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t the Wilkin family’s only clash with fire in 1931. Four months later November 13, 1931, the fire department was called to their home again. This time, a can of tar was placed on the stove to melt, but the lid was left on the can. As the tar heated up, it expanded until the can exploded, sending burning tar all over the room. Several large holes were burned through the linoleum floor; some wallpaper and clothes were also burned. Thankfully, the fire was put out before further damage was done.
