Kaysville Christmas Star Lights Up September Night To Honor Firefighters
Sep 18, 2019, 11:13 PM | Updated: Jul 16, 2023, 3:45 pm
KAYSVILLE, Utah – The Kaysville Star lit up the mountainside Wednesday night to honor those who fought to protect lives, homes and the Christmas icon from the Francis Fire.
As containment continued to grow and the fire moved away from homes, community members wondered if flames had damaged the star, which has shined over Davis County for decades.
“There’s a lot of tradition there,” said Jeff Dunford. “It’s been on the mountain here since about 1961.”
The Kaysville Star can be seen shining Sept. 18, 2019, after being missed by the Francis Fire.
No one was sure the lights were going to work, but Dunford had to give it a try.
“I thought it had a good chance of having some damage,” he said.
Dunford and Kaysville Mayor Katie Witt went up to the star Wednesday afternoon to see for themselves if it was damaged.
“I started getting text messages from our resident asking, ‘how’s the star?'” Witt said. “People here really care about it. There are certain things that just bind us together.”
Here's the moment the @kaysvillecity star was lit on the side of the mountain. A lot of people were worried about it after the #FrancisFire. It works just fine! We're doing a story about it tonight on @KSL5TV at 10. #KSLTV #Kaysville pic.twitter.com/LBx9idST5r
— Alex Cabrero (@KSL_AlexCabrero) September 19, 2019
Since the cable that binds a generator to the star looked okay, Dunford decided to unlock the generator and give it a turn.
It roared to life without a problem and the series of lightbulbs began to shine.
They weren’t quite as bright as Rudolph’s nose in the daylight, but they were bright enough for Dunford to know the star made it through the fire.
Witt decided to leave the generator running into the early morning hours to keep the star lit to thank firefighters for all their hard work saving homes.
“It means a lot to a lot of people,” said Dunford. “It’s a landmark for Kaysville.”
The Francis Fire was 68% contained by Wednesday evening. Officials said the blaze had burned 365 acres and rain Tuesday helped firefighting efforts.
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