Editors Note: This article was originally published in the Oct. 11, 2023 issue of the Chronicle Progress. Some information may be outdated.
Popular MHS teacher escapes blaze; cause undetermined
A 57-year-old woman died in a house fire Saturday in Holden.
The home belonged to a popular Millard High School teacher, Ben Hunter, and his wife.
Hunter was able to escape the home, while a guest staying at the residence, Cynthia Wiley, was unable to flee.
MHS teacher Ben Hunter sits atop a cooler in front of his Holden home, which caught fire on Saturday. A woman died in the blaze.
Volunteer fire crews from Holden and Fillmore City fire departments were dispatched to the scene Saturday evening before 6 p.m.
Hunter said he was able to save two vehicles and a motorcycle, but little else.
Fillmore Fire Chief Shane Brunson said he was unsure Monday if the home, located on Main Street near 200 South, was a total loss.
The home was a somewhat historic structure, having started life as cabins at the Topaz War Relocation Center during World War II. Hunter said his father built the structure, which was later added on to.
Crews fought the blaze for some time, concentrating water from a ladder truck onto an upstairs portion of the home for some time in an effort to get the fire under control.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation by an investigator with the Utah State Fire Marshal’s Office, according to Capt. Pat Bennett, a spokesman for the Millard County Sheriff’s Office.
Wiley’s body was sent to the state’s Office of the Medical Examiner for autopsy, Bennett said.
Wiley had a few relatives in Millard County. Her mother, Yvonne Bond Hancock, passed away in January.
She was known in the community for managing Fillmore’s airport for 35 years.
