SALT LAKE CITY — For the past few weeks, Gravity Services Company owner Oscar Preciado has been doing landscaping, painting and repairs at his Chateau Normandie apartment building.

“It’s kind of crazy,” he said. “One day we got a call out of the blue and it was like the building was on fire while we were talking.”

Crews extinguished the fire at Chateau Normandie twice in 24 hours. When the Salt Lake City Fire Department first arrived Thursday afternoon, one person was taken to the hospital with minor injuries, authorities said. Then, just after midnight, firefighters were called to the vacant apartments again.

“It went up for sale and a few days later there was a fire,” Preciado said. “This affects everything.”

Utah State Conservation Officer Chris Merritt said this building tells a story of what was happening in Salt Lake City at the time.

“This apartment boom of the early 20th century was a new demographic,” he said. “This was the first real increase in density in Salt Lake City, and it was also home to the first time in the early 20th century that single or widowed women could own or rent their own apartments. So there’s a lot of history. There is only one Chateau Normandie.”

Early 20th-century buildings were actually considered “fireproof” at the time, Merritt said.

“They’ve moved from a lot of wood-framed structures to more brick and stone, but obviously the brick facade and infrastructure doesn’t mean the interior is fireproof,” he said. “Old wood in beams, floors, walls and old electrical always pose potential risks to historic buildings.”

Preciado said he is still in shock, hoping he can continue restoring Chateau Normandie so the owners can sell the building.

“There’s nothing I can do to change,” Preciado said. “All I can do is wait for the fire to go out and see what happens.”

Investigators continue their work to determine the cause of the fires.