When Nolan Criner smelled smoke Thursday afternoon, he nervously ran through his Tooele home searching for the source. It wasn’t until he stepped out his back door a few minutes later that he realized it wasn’t his home, but his next-door neighbors home that was on fire.

“I opened the door and saw smoke coming out of the back door, windows and chimney,” Criner said. “I went back inside and told my wife, ‘I think the neighbor’s house is on fire,’ and called 911.”

Two Tooele City fire engines arrived at the home, located on the corner of Garden Street and 200 South, within minutes and firefighters quickly set to work suppressing the flames.

“Originally, we thought it was upstairs,” said David Gillette, first assistant chief with the Tooele City Fire Department. “But after getting in, the floor had burned through, so that’s when we realized it was in the basement.”

The blaze spread quickly, according to Gillette, who said firefighters took two hoses in to suppress the flames.

But with the failing floor becoming a concern, firefighters halted their approach from the main level and just continued to douse the flames from a side basement entrance.

Gillette said the fire damage was extensive, and whatever wasn’t burned sustained smoke damage.

“The cause is undetermined,” Gillette said. “We are still investigating, but there are no suspicious circumstances.”

The family who had been renting the home were in the process of relocating and had already moved all of their belongings out of the home, according to Criner.

“We tried to contact them through the police,” Gillette said. “But they never came back.”

Even after fire crews had contained the flames, Criner said, watching all of the men in yellow protective uniforms scurrying about next door was a bit “surreal.”

“I’ve got my family here,” Criner said. “Seeing all that smoke scared me pretty bad.”

Jamie Belnap: jamieb@tooeletranscript.com