Dave Schoeneck was visiting family in New York last Fourth of July when he received an unexpected call from a neighbor in the middle of the night. He was told his Cottonwood Heights home was about to go up in flames.
The fire, which engulfed the trees, scrub oak and shrubbery in a privately owned field just east of Schoeneck’s house, was started after a man lit an aerial firework in a celebration of Independence Day.
That moment of fun for the reveler came at a high cost to Schoeneck, who lost two 44-foot pine trees, patio furniture and a significant portion of his home’s exterior.