Utah firefighters head to Southern California to help with wildfires
Jan 9, 2025, 10:02 AM | Updated: 2:16 pm
SALT LAKE COUNTY — Utah was in the process Thursday morning of scrambling three “task forces” of firefighters to head to Southern California and help battle wildfires.
The Palisades Fire and other wildfires have raged amid powerful winds, forcing tens of thousands to flee.
After California sent out requests to other states for resources early Wednesday, emergency managers responded with a plan to send at least 60 local firefighters from numerous local agencies as part of three task forces.
Angela Lang, bureau chief of response coordination with the Utah Department of Public Safety’s Utah Division of Emergency Management, said the task forces would depart Thursday morning and would be deployed in Southern California for 14 days, with the possibility of an extension depending on fire behavior and weather conditions.
As California faces devastating wildfires, UFA is joining the firefighters from across Utah to answer the call. We are filled with gratitude to the dedicated team on the way to support the communities in need. pic.twitter.com/DadGFn2uhI
— Salt Lake County (@SLCoGov) January 9, 2025
“I have an entire team working on this to get everybody out and to get them out safely,” Lang told KSL TV. “It is to support the various wildfires across Southern California.”
Lang said the total request that went out from California to other states was for 40 task forces or strike teams and a total of about 200 engines.
Division Chief Chet Ellis with the Unified Fire Authority said Thursday that drivers would be rotating every couple to few hours to stay fresh behind the wheel. They are looking at spending around 12 hours on the road to get to Malibu, and then once they are there: It is go time.
“Who’s to say what it looks like tomorrow morning when we get to work? So, it could be everything from, you know, really fast-moving, aggressive firefighting, to do more cleanup and what we call mop up, so everything in between… and so the sky’s kind of the limit as far as what the assignment could be,” Ellis said.
According to state officials, numerous local agencies from Salt Lake City to Weber County and from Tooele County to Duchesne County were among those available to assist with resources.
Firetrucks from multiple Utah agencies get ready for their 12-hour drive down to Los Angeles Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 to help fight the wildfires. (KSL TV)
Sandy City Fire Department confirmed it was sending a type 1 engine and firefighters with wildland certifications to assist and be part of a task force that also includes firefighters from West Jordan, Sandy, Orem and Murray.
Engineer Brad Wahlin was deployed to California last summer to assist in battling a fire and said the windy conditions and the fire behavior being exhibited by the Palisades fire were making for a dangerous and almost impossible firefight.
“There’s virtually nothing we can do other than to try and get the public in a safe spot and keep ourselves safe,” Wahlin said.
It remained unclear exactly where Utah crews would be deployed in Southern California.
Wahlin suspected Utah crews would likely assist in helping establish fire lines before the flames arrive in new areas and also to help evacuate residents.
He said ultimately it was important that firefighters kept themselves safe while doing the same for others.
“We’d create a hazard to ourselves and that’s not what we want to do,” Wahlin said. “It’s very frustrating because, yes, that’s what we are trained to do is go mitigate that problem, stop that problem, and in those types of weather events or the situation in California, there’s nothing we can do to mitigate that in any way. We just don’t have the power to do that.”
Contributing: Karah Brackin, KSL TV
