North Tooele Fire District gifted water tanker
Jun 26, 2024, 10:00 AM | Updated: 11:35 am
A truck from North Tooele Fire District. Thanks to the Bureau of Land Management. (North Tooele Fire District)
(North Tooele Fire District)
TOOELE, Utah — The North Tooele Fire District now has a new water tanker at its disposal.
Tooele County is growing rapidly. It is expected to keep growing by 10% over the next five years, according to Jon Smith with the North Tooele Fire District.
“A lot of that growth is on what we call the wildland-urban interface,” Smith said. “Which is where our homes and businesses and yards meet up with what has traditionally been wildland desert or forests and hills.”
Smith said there are more homes and lives at stake in those wildland areas.
“That is wildfire territory,” he said. “When we start getting into the hot summer months, a single spark can really put a lot of homes (and) properties and even lives in danger.”
Smith said North Tooele Fire District already gets nearly 1,500 calls for service a year. Luckily, the Bureau of Land Management has gifted the fire district one of its old water tankers. It can carry 3,500 gallons of water into more rural and hard-to-reach areas than your traditional fire truck.
Editor’s note: Jon Smith is also an employee of KSL NewsRadio’s sister station, 103.5 The Arrow.
Heather Peterson is a reporter and producer for KSL NewsRadio. She also produces Utah’s Noon News.
