Murray firefighter Cameron Willden hugs his wife, Brittany, and children Nayson and Sloan goodbye as 41 firefighters from various Utah fire agencies gather at the Maverik Center in West Valley City on Wednesday before deploying to California to help in firefighting efforts there. The firefighters will deploy for about 16 days under the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, a system of state-to-state mutual aid coordinated through state emergency management agencies. The deployment includes three lead officers with two task forces. Task Force 1 consists of 21 firefighters from Unified Fire Authority, Draper and Park City fire agencies. Task Force 2 is comprised of 17 firefighters from Provo, Lone Peak, Murray, West Valley and Orem fire departments. Thirty-four Utah firefighters recently returned from a previous two-week deployment to California in August.
