Salt Lake area firefighters hope to help at Silver King Fire
Jul 8, 2024, 11:01 PM | Updated: Jul 9, 2024, 6:29 am
MARYSVALE, Piute County — As the Silver King Fire continued to burn out of control Monday, reinforcements from several local municipalities were arriving in the region to lend a helping hand.
The fire, started by lightning on Friday, raced over the weekend to become a 10,000-acre blaze, threatening numerous homes and cabins in the area.
Three Sandy Fire Department firefighters arrived at a staging area in Richfield Monday evening.
“This is like my second home down here, I’ve got a lot a lot of family down here, my wife’s down here,” Sandy engine boss Corey Carter said. “It is nice to be right here and helping in our state.”
The Murray and West Valley City fire departments were among the other agencies Monday to announce they were sending crews.
“There’s people from all around the country that have come in,” Carter said. He hoped his team would provide versatility.
“We can do direct fire attack or we can be doing some triage on structures,” Carter said. “Wherever they want us, they can plug us in and we can go to work.”
Carter was accompanied by fellow Sandy firefighters Joe Olsen and Ollie Smith.
“It’s always surreal to be with your family at night and get a phone call saying you’re going to be on an engine tomorrow driving out for 14 days-plus,” Olsen said.
Smith expressed excitement about the assignment.
“We train really hard back in Sandy and it’s great to put that training and skillset to the test and help out our community,” Smith told KSL TV.
The Sandy crew was expecting to assist with the firefight for up to two weeks with the large blaze still entirely uncontained.
“We’re going to have record-breaking heat,” Carter said. “I don’t see any moisture in the forecast to help, so I think a lot of resources are going to be needed.”