Looking at the outside of Paul and Lisa Hacking's house on Bonnie Drive in Roosevelt, nothing seems out of the ordinary.

But the interior of their home was destroyed around midday Friday after a faulty fan motor burned up in a basement refrigerator. The freezer motor stopped working, heated up and melted the refrigerator, sending smoke through the house and damaging most of the contents inside.

No one was in the house at the time of the fire. Paul Hacking, president of Uintah Basin Applied Technology College, was at work, as was his wife Lisa. Their two children were in school.

“If it had happened in the middle of the night, it would've been much worse,” said Hacking. His family has resided in the structure near Roosevelt Golf Course for the last five years.

“We are extremely blessed it wasn't worse than it was.”

The exterior of the house is intact, Hacking said.

“No windows were open so there was no oxygen to start a blaze,” he said. “Smoke damage caused the most problems. A lot of things in the house melted because of the incredible heat downstairs.”

A neighbor noticed black smoke pouring out of a utility vent and called 911 late Friday morning, then phoned the Hackings at their jobs.

As of Saturday afternoon, Hacking was still waiting on a visit from insurance company representatives to assess the damages.

“I can't imagine any of it being salvageable,” he said of his house and its contents.

Hacking said his family's material possessions can be replaced. At some point, he planned to go through the house to see what mementos could be salvaged.

Harder to replace are three family pets – two dogs and a cat – who died in the house.

Hacking said the outpouring of love from neighbors and friends has been tremendous. His family planned to stay with friends in Roosevelt for a few days. He thanked the Roosevelt fire and police departments for their handling of the situation.

“The police force was wonderful,” he said. “They kept me from running into my house to get my dogs. Detective Pete Butcher was very supportive.”

The Hackings, originally from Vernal, have lived in Roosevelt for 15 years. He has been president of UBATC since July 2004.