Marriott simmers over fire Residents seek changes at Bowen's recycling business By GREG KRATZ_ Standard-Examiner staff MARRIOTT - Darrell Mecham has lived on west 17th Street for 50 years. He saw a fire there take his daughter's life. And last Tuesday, when a huge pile of wood at next-door Bowen Enterprises burst into flames, he thought for a moment that a fire was coming to take him. "Another 10 minutes, and I'd have been gone," Mecham said Monday, looking over his backyard fence toward the clouds of smoke still billowing from the smoldering wood pile. "Hey, I've got a house to go back to. That's the main thing." Sparks from a welding torch has been determined as the cause of the fire, the Weber County Sheriff's Office said today. A trailer tenant on the Bowen property was working on a trailer hitch, Detective Earl Cherry said. Sparks from his welding torch ignited cotton from cottonwood trees that had accumulated on the ground, he said. Cherry said a decision on whether to cite the trailer tenant will be made after the district and county attorney's office review the case. Mecham said he holds no ill feeling for the owner of Bowen Enterprises. But some other Marriott residents asked the Weber County Commission Monday to suspend Gary Bow-en's business license. Sherry Morris, chairwoman of Marriott's planning committee, gave commissioners a petition with the signatures of 15 people who want such a suspension. Although zoning allows Bowen to operate his wood recycling business at 839 W. 17th St., Morris said, it does not allow him to endanger the people and property. "It didn't take clairvoyance to know (the wood pile) would burst into flames someday," she said, adding that she asked the county to inspect Bowen's property several times in the months preceding the blaze. "If life had been lost, there would have been deep questions for the government agencies. All it would have taken is a shift in the wind." The petition suggests that renewal of Bowen's business license depend on him meeting certain conditions, such as: Completely removing the remains of the "open-pit dump" used to store wood. Purchasing a liability insurance policy that would pay for neighbors' future fire losses. STILL ON FIRE: The fire (above) at Bowen Enterprises continues to burn in Marriott since last Tuesday. Residents, including Darrell Mecham (left), have petitioned the Weber County Commission to suspend Bowen's business license. S.JOHN WILKIN/ Standard-Examiner 45