Fourth of July is this week and Utah’s firefighters are getting ready

SALT LAKE CITY — It’s “all hands on deck” for Utah’s firefighters this week as the Fourth of July approaches.

Fire station call volume goes “through the roof” the week of the Fourth of July, according to Benjamin Porter with Unified Fire Authority.

“So, we do everything we can to prepare for that and make sure the public is in good hands,” he said.

Utah’s firefighters are being proactive by thinning out dry brush in vulnerable areas. Porter said they are also increasing their staffing.

“We are going to staff more people to make sure crews don’t have to jump from one apparatus to another,” he said. “That allows us to have multiple trucks in service.”

Additionally, they’re utilizing all of their resources.

“We are staffing an additional water tender [and] three wildland brush trucks ready to respond to calls that are, inevitably, going to come from fireworks,” Porter said.

Porter said they are also doing a major push with their public service announcements on social media.

Britt Johnson is a reporter and anchor for KSL NewsRadio.

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