New State of Utah Wildland Fire Operations Center coming to South Salt Lake

SALT LAKE CITY — Forestry, Fire, and State Lands to break ground on a new State of Utah Wildland Fire Operations Center.

Brett Ostler, State of Utah Fire Management Officer sits down with KSL NewsRadio’s Dave Noriega and Leah Murray. With them, he shares insight on the upcoming facility.

New State of Utah Wildland Fire Operations Center

According to Ostler, the new center comes 45 years after the construction of the current center at the Point of the Mountain. The new facility will be built in South Salt Lake on 1700 West. 

“It’s gonna combine the fire program together with the administration and our resources to have a better facility so that we’re not strung out across the state,” he tells Noriega and Dujanovic. “It’s gonna better help us respond to the wildfire crisis here in Utah.”

Specifically, Ostler says the new State facility will be helpful as it will have all resources under the same roof.

“It’ll be a little more seamless with us all in the same building instead of having, you know, resources on North Temple and then resources down at the Point of the Mountain,” he says. “We’ll all have, you know, better communication right there. And when the assignments come in, we can be better prepared for those as they … come in and just better communication amongst the fire staff.”

Along with this, he says the facility will be important when it comes to fire season in Utah.

“A lot of people would look at this year and think, ‘man, it’s not a big deal because of the amount of moisture that we received,’ but we are going to dry out,” Ostler says.  “And when those fires do happen, you’re going to see smoke in the air.”

The facility is projected to open in October 2024, according to Ostler.

Dave & Dujanovic can be heard on weekdays from 9 a.m. to noon.

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