Spring is here, and summer is just around the corner. Unfortunately, so are our annual wildfires.
This fire season will be different from those of the past. The Salt Lake County Fire Department won't have wild-land fire crews. Due to budget cuts, this very needed protection has been eliminated. The county commissioners, in their earnest attempt to cut fat, cut muscle and bone.It is important for us to understand the extreme risk that has been put on thousands of residents and property owners. So, please ask the county commissioners to adjust the budget to minimize this risk.
Wild-land firefighters are different from structural firefighters, and their training is very specialized. To compare the two is truly like comparing apples and oranges. It is not wise or safe for our structural firefighters (as magnificent and willing as they are) to jump into the arena of wildfires.
Of course, the structural crews can provide massive protection with their engines. But they are not equipped with the specialized protective clothing, tools, and by and large, the special training to go off the roads and attack. Their strength will be more of a defensive action rather than offensively attacking. This strategy may work some of the time but certainly not all the time. A large fire in our canyons and foothills would demand effective offensive actions.
Thus, I highly encourage and plead with the Salt Lake County commissioners to make the necessary adjustments in the budget to maintain the wild-land fire crew programs. Immediate action is required before these seasonal firefighters accept job offers elsewhere (out of our area). By not doing so is flirting with disaster.
Harold M. Haugen
Sandy