The Utah Utes firetruck: Four generations of Utah tailgaters

SALT LAKE CITY — If you’ve ever noticed a bright red fire truck driving to the Utah Utes tailgate area before football games, it may not look like anything that out of the ordinary. But it’s actually carrying four generations of Utes football tailgaters.

It all started in the 1970’s with Marlene Skillings, who’s now 90, and her husband — one of three couples who started a tailgating club at the Utah games. Back then tickets were about $2 and the team wasn’t very good.

“There was nobody there, you could sit wherever you wanted,” she said. “(We) literally tailgated with our sandwiches behind the stadium. And that’s how it started.”

Her informal afternoons soon led to more couples joining their tailgate club, at one point as many as nine couples were a part. But one day in the mid 80’s Skillings was at her high school reunion in her home state of South Dakota when a rare opportunity struck — to buy a fire truck.

“They were auctioning it off. Both of my brothers were volunteer firemen. So I felt very close to this truck,” Skillings said.

The cost, $825.

“My husband wouldn’t let me buy it, but I came back here and asked the tailgate group if they would like to buy it,” she said. “We were already a close-knit group, and so that’s, you know, they all wanted the truck.”

That firetruck — with bald tires, no brakes, and one wiper at the time — made the treacherous journey back from South Dakota to Utah at a top speed of maybe 40 miles per hour.

But it officially launched what was then called the Ute Fire Engine Group, later becoming an official non-profit called the Fire Truck Historic Preservation Association. Today the group has about 10 couples participating and 26 members, but they are able to share their tailgate experience with friends.

“The fire truck is really about family, friends, and fun,” Majid Omana, Skillings’ son-in-law, said.. Since those early years, each of the founding members had kids, and their kids have had kids. And now four generations of Utah fans continue the tradition of riding to the games in it.

Riding in the truck to games, fans stop to wave.

“Probably the funnest thing about driving it is just the response from the people,” Omana said.

Members have come and gone, and many of the founding members have died. Skillings says she’ll stay in this group as long as she can — riding with four generations of Ute fans to games in style, just like they have for decades.

“I’m not dropping out because I’m the person that wrote the check for the truck.”

The group has an Instagram and says they also love to bring the truck to community events and parades.