Bill would allow Utah’s governor to enter Beehive state into interstate fire agreement

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah lawmakers are strongly supporting a bill that would allow state leaders to enter Utah into an interstate wildfire agreement.

SB 30, sponsored by state Sen. Derrin Owens, R-Fountain Green, if passed, would give Utah’s governor the authority to enter Utah into the Great Plains Interstate Fire Compact.

The compact, which began in 2006, currently has eight states and one Canadian province: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Saskatchewan.

According to a spokesperson with the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands, Utah is one of just three states not part of any major interstate compact, along with Nevada and California.

Interstate fire compact benefits

Some of the benefits, according to the DFFSL spokesperson, include:

• “Access to more resources and aviation in times of need,
• The ability to move these resources more quickly and efficiently among states,
• The ability to suppress fires that may be beyond the capabilities of a single state through resource-sharing,
• Offering rights, powers, duties and immunities the same as the state where the staff may be rendering aid,” as written in an email to KSL NewsRadio.

“Bringing in resources to help in a catastrophic wildfire situation is really wise,” Owens told a Utah House committee earlier this week. “I’m hopeful they (state fire officials) can be in the compact and see what else is available out there to help Utah… and how Utah can help its neighbor.”

The bill has already received unanimous support in the Utah Senate, as well as a Utah House committee.

The bill is scheduled to be heard and voted on next by the full Utah House.

Related: Utah firefighters return home after battling California fires

Follow @AdamSmallKSL