Tooele County’s vastness, aridity and mountainous terrain mean summer wildfires can be sparked anytime in some of the most remote locations in the United States. By the time a blaze is detected, winds may have whipped it into a fiery frenzy, growing in multiple directions at once. Fighting such amorphous fires in locales far from water resources, fueling stations, runways and other urban infrastructure requires a massive deployment of manpower. Over this past weekend, firefighters from numerous federal, state and local agencies worked together on the fires, mobilized and coordinated by the efforts of the National Interagency Coordination Center and the Great Basin Type 2 Incident Management Team. Crews flew in from Pennsylvania, Delaware, Ohio, West Virginia, Maryland, Wyoming and Idaho to lend a hand.
Some of these firefighters traveled thousands of miles, leaving loved ones behind, to battle these fires. They worked exhausting shifts, putting their lives on the line by day, and sleeping by night near the fires’ front lines or in a makeshift encampment on the Grantsville City Park. Their commitment and dedication in protecting us are deserving of the highest respect and commendation.
But, beyond that, firefighters embody a quality that’s rarely tested in our modern world: bravery. What does it take to stare down a wall of flames as you race to carve out a fire break? What goes through a firefighters mind as they race to save a home or extinguish a hot spot before desert winds make it flare up again? We can theorize about how we would react in these situations, but most of us will never be faced with them. Firefighters are, and they might pass these tests of courage dozens of times in the course of a weekend like the one just past.
We owe these firefighters — whether local volunteers, state crews or out-of-state teams — an enormous debt of gratitude. They risked their lives to protect us. They are truly Tooele County’s guardian angels.
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