Once again, Draper firefighters have helped answer the call of a neighboring state in need. The city’s fire department sent a crew of four personnel and one engine to help fight the fires ravaging Southern California. They joined other Utah agencies in sending 70 personnel total in 15 fire engines. Utah crews departed Jan. 9 from the Maverik Center and are expected to fulfill an initial 14-day commitment. They’ll be gone 17-18 days total including travel time. 

Sandy, South Jordan, West Jordan, West Valley City, Salt Lake City and Unified Fire all sent crews and resources. 

“This is something we train for, it’s part of our job, so they were excited to be able to go and use their expertise to support those efforts. But they also understand that is one of those, we hope, once-in-a-lifetime events that has caused so much devastation and destruction. They knew they were going into an area they wouldn’t have seen before and probably experience some feelings they haven’t felt before,” Draper Fire Chief Clint Smith said. 

Draper’s crew traveled in one of the city’s Type 3 engines rather than the Type 1 fire engine typically seen around town. Type 1 engines are larger and carry more water and hose. “The Type 3 engine is more agile, reduced in equipment, but specifically suited for wildland/urban interface fire,” Smith said. 

The crew overnighted Thursday in Victorville, California and spent the first half of Friday going through CalFire’s vehicle inspection and check-in process. Then they drove three hours to their assignment, the Palisades fire. “They were deployed as soon as they got there to do structure protection and assessments. They saw a lot of erratic fire behavior from where they were stationed that first night. The amount of devastation is hard to comprehend, but they have conveyed to us how grateful the residents are to know that we would send resources and that they are there working to assist them. They have been treated tremendously by the residents because our crews are there to help them in their time of need,” Smith said. The crew worked 40 hours straight until 10 p.m. Saturday at which point they rested.

Smith said they’ll be actively firefighting if the winds pick up and the situation worsens, otherwise they will be working to fortify fire breaks and fire lines to make sure hot embers can be held, all in an effort to stop the fire from growing or jumping containment lines. If fire lines can be held, crews will transition into “mopping up and rendering areas safe for residents to go back in at some point to see the damage and hopefully find something remaining in their respective homes,” Smith said. 

As the 14-day initial commitment draws to a close, California officials will reassess to determine whether more crews are needed. “We’ll have to see what that fire behavior does. If California continues to need that help, we are prepared to do a crew swap,” Smith said. 

Locally, Draper’s fire department has worked to prevent devastating wildland/urban interface fires that could happen within city limits in areas like Corner Canyon and SunCrest. Smith said his department has banned fireworks and open fires in those greater-risk areas. They’ve also made efforts to educate people about those risks and they’ve enforced restrictions. “Secondly, we’ve invested a lot in fuels mitigation work over the last five years. You will see our seasonal members have done a tremendous amount of thinning and clearing of brush to help limit the expansion or growth of fire, in the most prone areas, to give us a fighting chance,” Smith said. 

Draper’s Fire Chief said he is grateful for the recent decision to increase city property taxes to better support public safety. “It is a demonstration by city leadership of the importance of public safety, to invest in our personnel in wages, benefits and additional allocations. It’s important that we hire and retain the best of the best. To have our residents support that shows us they appreciate the programs we have in place, and it’s important to them to fund and sustain those programs so we can continue to provide the best fire and emergency services to our residents.” 

There’s something each resident can do to try to prevent the devastation witnessed in California from happening here in Utah. “We all recognize it’s a great privilege to have Corner Canyon in our backyard, but it comes with responsibility for everybody that visits the area to adhere to restrictions and to look out for each other so we do everything in our power to not find ourselves in a similar situation,” Smith said. 

If there’s one upside to sending a crew to help others in a time of total devastation, Smith said it’s the learning experience that may prove useful in Utah at some point. “It’s not ideal for us to have to deploy for these types of incidents, but the one thing we’ve always said is these give us great learning opportunities. It’s unfortunate that this is happening to those people in California, but it gives us an opportunity to send our people and gain experience. It allows us to bring that knowledge and training back and implement it for the benefit of our residents,” Smith said.

Smith, whose department lost Matt Burchett on a California wildfire deployment several years ago, said he offers this advice to his crew at their departure. “My words to them are always go and represent your department and your families well, represent your training well, but most of all, take care of each other.” λ