Mere hours after Gov. Spencer Cox banned fireworks across the state until after the Fourth of July, one city in the Wasatch Back considered designating specific areas for the public to safely discharge fireworks, which would have been allowed under the emergency declaration.

The Heber City Council held an emergency meeting Thursday to discuss the possibility of allowing the use of fireworks at six public parks from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on July 4.

Wasatch Fire District Chief Eric Hales said at the meeting he would have preferred three or four locations. That’s because Independence Day is typically busy for the Wasatch Fire District, which would not have the bandwidth to send firefighters to monitor the six parks for that entire 12-hour period. 

Instead, the Fire District would have provided 5-gallon water buckets at each park for residents to dispose of fireworks responsibly and put out any small fires if needed. 

Heber City resident Barb Clark supported a citywide fireworks ban.

“I live in the north end, and we have a lot of people that just love their aerials. Cops have been called several times over the years that I’ve lived there. My house gets bombarded with shrapnel the next day, and all this detritus all over the place,” she said. 

Clark said she appreciated the logic of giving people who might set off fireworks anyway a safe place to do so, but that she was skeptical that everyone would follow the rules or even be aware of them in the first place.

The final decision ultimately came down to Mayor Heidi Franco, per Cox’s executive order. 

Franco expressed concern that Heber City would see an influx of visitors wanting to set off fireworks if they were allowed in some locations because fireworks were banned everywhere else in the Wasatch Back. She announced a citywide ban the following morning.

“This beautiful valley and mountains protect us, and now we need to protect them. Plus, your safety is most important,” she said. 

She referred to the city’s encouragement of voluntary water conservation to combat the current drought, saying, “The recent rain is not enough. … Let’s not make our city’s situation worse.”

Despite the ban, several public officials, including city councilors, Hales and Heber City Police Chief Parker Sever predicted fireworks use would likely happen over the holiday anyway.

Sever hails from Hanford, California, where he said fireworks are never allowed. Despite that, he said it was “difficult to enforce” and would likely be even more difficult in Heber City, where public fireworks use is typically allowed over the holiday.

“People aren’t putting on a big show, so by the time we triangulate where these things are going on from the sky, usually, their show’s done. And then, neighbors don’t want to tell on their neighbors,” he said.

Cox’s ban lasts July 2-6. Discharging fireworks in Utah is already illegal all other times, except July 22-25 for Pioneer Day, on Dec. 31 and for Chinese New Year. Cox has not announced the state’s approach to Pioneer Day fireworks. 

Oakley Mayor Steve Wilmoth said Friday the city plans on keeping the fireworks display at the Oakley Rodeo. 

More than 75% of Utah’s wildfires have been human-caused since the beginning of the fire season, according to the governor. 

Wasatch Fire Marshal Clint Neerings said most fires started by fireworks come down to “negligence and/or ignorance,” including people who set them off near vegetation, dispose of them in dumpsters without soaking them in water or discharge an aerial firework that inadvertently launches horizontally instead of vertically.

State forester Jamie Barnes described the quick spread of wildfires due to dry vegetation and the current drought as “unlike anything we’ve seen in recent memory.”

Hales agreed with that assessment.

“Coming out of the winter we came out of, and then the fire behavior and all the fires that we’re having in the state, it’s just getting drier and hotter,” he said. “We’ve been very fortunate. We’ve only had a handful of starts within Wasatch County, and they’ve been very small.”

He said wildfire risk is poised to get worse and worse going into July, and that what little moisture the county may receive is “not enough to make a difference.”

Violating Cox’s fireworks ban is punishable by an infraction and a fine of up to $1,000.

More severe punishments apply to areas under Stage 2 Fire Restrictions. Both Wasatch and Summit counties entered into Stage 2 Fire Restrictions on Friday. These restrictions apply to unincorporated state and private lands in both counties. Whether or not to implement Stage 2 Fire Restrictions in individual cities comes down to the decision of the local government. In 2025, Stage 2 Fire Restrictions weren’t implemented statewide until July 31.

The following actions are banned, will be enforced by county law enforcement and are punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine up to $1,000:

• Building, maintaining, attending or using a campfire or stove fire.
• Smoking, except with an enclosed vehicle, trailer, building, developed recreation site or while stopped in an area that is paved or free from dry vegetation.
• Discharging or using any fireworks, tracer ammunition or other pyrotechnic devices, including exploding targets.
• Cutting, welding or grinding metal in areas of dry vegetation.
• Operating a motorcycle, chainsaw, ATV or other small internal combustion engine without an approved and working spark arrestor.

The post Wasatch Back responds to Gov. Cox’s fireworks ban appeared first on Park Record.

The news is in: Wasatch Fire District engineer Kody Anderson and his captain, Doyle Graham, are getting a divorce.

“I always tell our new guys that the captain is the father, the mother is the engineer and then we have our children. The captain is ultimately the disciplinarian. The engineer is the one who moderates the children with the father,” Anderson said. “It’s a funny way of describing it, but to me, that’s what it is: a flipping married couple that spends every waking minute together.”

On Monday afternoon, the six-year metaphorical marriage came to an end when Doyle retired after a 34-year firefighting career. For Anderson, it was a bittersweet breakup.

Anderson commutes two hours from Sanpete County every day, meaning there’s a low chance of him running into Doyle, who lives in Wallsburg, on his days off. The pair is planning a camping trip with their families to catch up.

Anderson said Doyle is a “proud papa” of his “kids” on the crew, even if they love to pull his leg. In one of many pranks, the firefighters on Graham’s crew placed a camera outside of his bedroom and told him he was being monitored by higher-ups.

“He handled it like a pro. He would always joke with us until it got to a certain point where maybe he was uncomfortable. And then he’d pretend to get a phone call, and off he’d go,” Anderson said. 

Anderson painted Doyle as a very outgoing person.

“I always tease him that I’m going to put a bell on him,” he laughed. “We’ll go to the grocery store, and I’ll turn around, and I’m like, ‘Where the hell is Doyle now?’ And he’s talking to somebody, anybody.”

Despite Doyle’s outgoing nature, he acted humbly when asked about his career, insisting that his peers who said nice things about him were “liars.”

Doyle started firefighting as part of a volunteer force in Wallsburg in 1992. The force operated out of what is now Station 55, but was a separate entity from the Wasatch Fire District at the time. 

After obtaining his EMT certification, Doyle shifted his volunteerism to the Fire District around 2000. 

He joined just in time for the 2002 Olympics, which gave him the chance to meet people from across the world during medical shifts at Soldier Hollow Nordic Center. He only responded to a few minor incidents. What stuck with him most was the happiness of the crowd.

Doyle went full-time with the Fire District in 2008.

His wife, Tammy, was the first emergency responder in the family, getting certified as an EMT almost 40 years ago. Since 2021, Tammy has taught EMT classes at Wasatch High School in partnership with the Fire District and Mountainland Technical College.

Like Doyle, Tammy became an emergency responder because Wallsburg did not have its own medical or fire emergency response systems in place, meaning residents would have to wait for county emergency responders to drive 12 miles from Heber City to arrive on the scene.

She didn’t initially have a passion for the medical field, but she grew to love being an EMT because it allowed her to help people. That’s the same reason the couple’s son, Toby, followed in his parents’ footsteps, joining the Fire District as a firefighter and EMT eight years ago.

“He followed in this line, against our better wishes,” Doyle said. “It’s a hard career. You can make more money on the outside, sleep in your own bed at night and be home for Christmas. … This is a hard life, and there are easier ways to make money.”

But, Doyle noted, emergency response is “an addiction.” Once you’ve felt the rush of saving someone’s life, it’s hard to quit. 

“At a moment’s notice, you’re getting dressed, going to a fire. You’re going to somebody’s worst day,” he said. “To be able to help them and to make it better for them is awesome.”

Anderson said Doyle acts like a cheeky grandfather with any kid he comes in contact with, a demeanor that comes in handy on calls involving children. 

Battalion Chief Ben Fitzgerald, who has worked with Doyle for 26 years, backed up that claim. His three daughters, now in their 20s, adore him.

Although the Fire District is very much a family, Doyle understood that each staff member’s actual family was their number one priority.

Assistant Chief Jason Provost said, “When my kids were growing up, he was the one who was saying, ‘Go spend time with your kids. Go enjoy.’ I appreciated that perspective from him.”

Now that he’s no longer putting in the grueling 48-hour shifts every week, Doyle has no idea what to do with his time other than spend it with family. It’ll be a brand new adventure — as he put it, he’s “never retired before.”

Chief Eric Hales noted that Doyle is unique for how long he served the community. In Hales’ experience, most firefighters retire after about 20 to 25 years. 

“This is a young person’s game, especially to be on the line,” he said. “These people who have been involved in responding to calls for 30-plus years are something special.”

Doyle is not the only seasoned firefighter retiring this year. 

Capt. Verl “Rick” Mecham retired earlier this month. Fitzgerald will be retiring in June. Capt. Jed Olsen, who has been with the Fire District for 15 years, will also be retiring in the next few months. 

Doyle and Mecham were two of the first six firefighters promoted to captain when the Fire District transitioned from a part- to full-time service in 2000.

“We knew that (from) 2020 to 2030, we were going to lose the original six full-timers. We’re only down to one or two left,” Hales said.

When Hales, a Park City resident, joined the Fire District six years ago, Doyle gave him an introductory ambulance tour of the county. Hales came to understand the unique needs not only of Heber City and Midway, but also of smaller municipalities like Independence and Interlaken. 

“What’s happening this year, unfortunately, with Wasatch Fire, is we’re losing a great deal of our history and our institutional knowledge of the area, of what it’s been and where we’ve been,” Hales said. “(Doyle) helped bridge that gap of keeping the culture and community base for all these new folks coming in.”

With the county’s rapid growth, the Fire District’s needs are constantly evolving. 

When Hales started six years ago, there were nine firefighters working on a given day. That number has now jumped to 21 and will increase again on Monday, when 13 recruits will be added to the force. 

This year’s growth in the force will be accompanied by the construction of a new station in Hideout.

Doyle isn’t too worried about how the Fire District will adapt without him.

“All of our guys are good, hard workers. Strong. Smart,” he said. “The county’s in good hands.”

The post Retirement of old guard leaves Wasatch Fire District in a season of change appeared first on Park Record.

A man was pronounced deceased at Jordanelle Reservoir on Monday, according to the Wasatch County Sheriff’s Office.

The Wasatch County 911 Center received a call of a water-related emergency around 7:45 a.m. involving an individual reported to be on the water, according to a press release. The Sheriff’s Office, Wasatch County Fire District and the Utah Division of Natural Resources located the man.

The man was wearing a life jacket and may have been paddleboarding. He appeared to be recreating alone, the press release said. There is currently no evidence suggesting foul play, and the incident appears to have been accidental.

The identity of the male has not been released, pending notification to his family.

The Sheriff’s Office encouraged the public to use proper safety equipment, avoid recreating alone and be mindful of weather and water conditions, which can change quickly.

The post Man found dead in apparent accident at Jordanelle Reservoir appeared first on Park Record.

Hundreds of kids who had been buzzing with excitement behind start lines at the Heber City Police Department on Saturday morning were off like Olympic sprinters as soon as they heard the blare of an airhorn coming through the speakers.

Their target? As many of the 12,600 plastic Easter eggs that had been scattered across the lawn as they could get their little hands on.

The lawn was spotless within 10 minutes. 

“If only they were picking up dog (poop) in the backyard,” joked grandfather Troy Palmer from the sidelines.

Palmer lives in Orem but came up to Heber City for the weekend to visit his daughter and son-in-law, Kaylee and Alex Agin, and their four children.

The kids were quick to scurry back to their parents and grandpa, loot in hand, from the various sections of the lawn. Each was designated for a different division: children under 1 year old, those aged 1 to 4, 5 to 10, 11 to 13 and those with physical or intellectual disabilities.

Hunter, 12, recalled the moment the airhorn sounded without warning.

“I was just standing there, and then I just heard, ‘beep!’ and saw everyone else running. I didn’t think it was going to go off like that,” he rambled quickly.

Hunter and his family have attended the Wasatch County first responders’ Easter egg hunt through all three of its iterations, but this event saw Hunter’s best performance. He nabbed about 30 colorful eggs and stuffed them into a plastic grocery bag. His strategy, picking up multiple eggs with each hand instead of one at a time, had paid off. 

Hunter’s 10-year-old brother, Jagger, returned with a much different spoil of war: an egg-shaped, 16-inch-tall Squishmallow. The brown stuffed animal looked like a bat, but its tag revealed it to be a goblin king named Ambergris.

There were over 100 of Ambergris’ brethren spread out across the lawn. It wasn’t quite the “battle” between children Palmer had been expecting. Many kids went home content, their own goblin king in hand.

Heber City Police Sgt. Zac Hendricksen, who organized this year’s egg hunt, explained the Squishmallows were a bit of an Easter miracle, albeit an unconventional one.

About three weeks before the event, a local landlord donated roughly 125 Squishmallows to the Police Department. She had evicted a tenant who had defaulted on rent. That tenant owned a small army of Squishmallows — ultra popular, super-soft collectible plush toys shaped like various animals or foods — that were still in the box, but she apparently refused to retrieve them despite the landlord’s attempts to return them. 

Police officers picked up the Squishmallows from the landlord using the Police Department’s 26-foot-long enclosed motorcycle trailer. According to Hendricksen, the trailer was nearly overflowing with boxes.

“I don’t think we’ll have that opportunity next year,” he said with a laugh.

The first responders’ Easter egg hunt began three years ago as the brainchild of Chief Parker Sever. It’s only gotten bigger each year, expanding last year to add a pancake breakfast. Sever estimated that around 1,000 people came this year. The jam-packed parking in the blocks surrounding the Police Department seemed to support that fact.

Organizing the Easter egg hunt was a collaborative effort between the Police Department, Wasatch County Sheriff’s Office and Fire District, Department of Natural Resources and Utah Highway Patrol. 

The latter agency brought its car crash simulator — two bumper cars mounted on a trailer — to teach kids the importance of wearing a seatbelt while letting them crash into each other at 5 mph. 

Meanwhile, inmates booked into the Wasatch County Jail volunteered to help fill the 12,600 eggs. Local Latter-day Saint youth groups pitched in, too.

“I’ll be honest with you, this is about a month’s worth of work for a lot of people,” Hendricksen said. “So, it’s kind of nice to have it behind us.”

Hendricksen said the egg hunt is a good way for local law enforcement to connect with community members.

“Sometimes people are just scared of cops, so then, when they get to come out and see them in this aspect, it makes them know that we’re all human,” he said.

The egg hunt also allows Sever to operate his “candy cannon,” which uses pressurized air to shoot candy through a muzzle made of PVC pipe. 

“If you put too much pressure, though, it just blows all the wrappers off the candy,” Sever explained.

He was speaking from experience. The contraption, created in his garage a few years ago, involved a lot of trial and error.

Many kids jumped around with excitement as candy shot up in the air and rained down from the sky. But not all were impressed with Sever’s invention.

Pouting as though she were about to burst into tears, 8-year-old Riley Pettee whined, “I don’t like it because something hit me in the head.”

But she cheered right up when she showed off her bag full of eggs. Plastering a smug grin on her face, she bragged that the egg hunt had been “easy.”

The post Kids compete for candy, glory and over 12,000 eggs in Heber City Police Department’s Easter egg hunt appeared first on Park Record.

The photos and videos in the slideshow playing at Wasatch County Fire Capt. Verl “Rick” Mecham’s retirement party on Wednesday painted him as a bit of a goofball, flexing for the camera, pretending to be snoring at his desk and striking poses in full turnout gear even a fashion model wouldn’t dare attempt.

His 9-year-old granddaughter, Brielle Richins, confirmed the reports of his silliness.

Brielle has been cheerleading since she was three and is quite the expert at flips. Rick can do flips, too, but only when he’s strapped into a harness and assisted by several of his firefighting colleagues. The video of Rick doing his first back tuck in a harness and full firefighting gear is “pretty funny,” Brielle giggled.

“If somebody just watched that video, they’d think that all I did was goof all the time,” Rick said. “I think that’s part of my mechanism, part of my plan, is to keep things light-hearted, even in a tough situation. That kind of brings everybody back to base.”

Rick has been firefighting in volunteer and full-time capacities since 1989. For 35 years, he’s built custom homes under his company, Rick Mecham Construction, as his primary profession. The latter is the more stressful job of the two, he joked.

Rick’s mother, JoLene, believed her son’s firefighting career was prompted when he stumbled upon a car accident in Wallsburg as a young adult.

“There was a young girl, 16, who had just had her driver’s license for a couple of weeks and was headed out of town and had an accident. He was the first one on the scene, and it killed her,” she recalled. “And he came back up to my house after, and he was so emotional, so upset. I think maybe he wished he would have been able to help more.”

Rick started as a volunteer firefighter in his hometown of Wallsburg when he was 25.

The volunteer firefighting group was made up of six to eight “problem-solvers” who were tradespeople in their day jobs. The group first operated independently of the Wasatch Fire District before the latter agency began offering training in 1990.

Rick began volunteering at Wasatch Fire District around 2003, becoming certified as an EMT in 2008. He started working full time for the Fire District in 2015.

He said the biggest changes he’s seen in Wasatch County firefighting have stemmed from the rapid growth. When he started with the Fire District, he knew each of the roughly 30 firefighters by name. Now, the department has over 100 employees, and there were some people at his retirement party whom he hadn’t even met. 

Rick said the Fire District is still trying to catch up with the growth, which it hopes to respond to through the upcoming construction of permanent stations in Hideout and near Benloch Ranch.

Rick was promoted from lieutenant to captain, overseeing about 20 firefighters in a given shift, about eight years ago.

At first, he wasn’t sure he liked the new role because it provided him less hands-on time firefighting and helping patients, but he came to love it because it allowed him to train younger people and watch them grow.

Jake Provost is one of those younger people. He’s worked with Rick as a firefighter and EMT at the Fire District for about a decade. He said Rick’s three rules are to work hard, do your job well and have fun.

“When I needed somebody to be a brother, he was a brother. When I needed somebody to be a father figure, he’s a father figure. When I needed somebody to line me out like a rusty piece of wire, he did that, too,” he said. “Because he has so much experience, he’s just a gold mine of wisdom. He’s seen a lot in his years, and he’s really worked hard to try and pass that down to the rest of us.”

Jake’s older brother, Jason, is the assistant chief of operations for the Fire District. Although he was Rick’s supervisor — and, he noted, taller than Rick — he “definitely looked up to him.”

His colleagues in emergency response praised a few of Rick’s key qualities, including his sense of humor and ability to be the calm in the eye of a hurricane.

“He has a calm demeanor about him, and so, it was easy to take a task that was very challenging and bring it down a notch because of his calm demeanor on the scene. He was very methodical over the radio, calming over the radio, never escalated during those calls,” Jason said.

Rick’s son, Justin Mecham, worked directly alongside his father as an EMT for about 11 years. He’s worked for the Utah Highway Patrol for eight years.

“We could just kind of talk about stuff, and that was probably the nicest thing, was that you go on the rougher calls, and just to be able to talk to each other about that …” Justin began, choking up.

Rick’s daughter, Chelsea Richins, said that she can rely on her father’s calm demeanor in her personal life, too. On Christmas Day last year, Chelsea’s husband became ill and was hospitalized after cysts in his brain ruptured and caused an infection. Rick was one of the first people she called.

“When you’re feeling awful, and you’re scared, it’s nice to have somebody that can help talk you through it, take your mind off of it a little bit and give you something to look forward to or laugh about,” she said.

Rick said his demeanor comes naturally to him, though there have definitely been times when he’s “wanted to freak out a little bit, but you just can’t.”

He said his favorite calls as an EMT were psychiatric patient transfers because they allowed him to get to know someone and their struggles during the car ride.

Many of his colleagues in emergency response praised Rick for his ability to see the humanity in both the people he helped and the employees he supervised. 

The latter, Jake said, is a quality that many emergency response agencies have lost.

“He recognizes that there’s so much more to life than this job. We’ve got families and kiddos at home, and he’s always been quick to reach out to offer help,” he said.

Rick stepped into the role of acting battalion chief about nine months ago after the previous battalion chief experienced health problems.

“It was kind of baptism by fire,” Rick said.

The role required increased supervisory duties and hours, which were difficult to manage on top of his construction company. When the time came for his official promotion to battalion chief, he decided to retire.

His wife, Marcia, and JoLene are looking forward to spending more time with him. 

Marcia’s description of Rick’s pager constantly going off over the years made her husband sound like Superman, always wearing a supersuit hidden under civilian garb in case of an emergency. She said the family sometimes celebrated Christmas at 2 a.m. before Rick’s 48-hour shifts.

JoLene lives right next door to Rick but hasn’t seen him much recently because he’s been so busy.

“I got some ‘Honey, do’s’ for him. … ‘Honey, do this,’” she laughed. “I’ve been put on the bottom of his list all the time. I’ll say, ‘I need this.’ He’ll say, ‘I’ll put you on the list.’”

Rick is hanging on to his turnout and wildland gear if he ever needs to help the Fire District respond to a major incident. If that happens, he’ll operate out of Station 55 in Wallsburg, where he began his firefighting heroics 37 years ago.

The post Wallsburg firefighter, EMT celebrates retirement after 37 years of service appeared first on Park Record.

A structure fire can double every minute, and someone who collapses from cardiac arrest loses 10% of the chance they’ll survive each minute before professional help arrives

Given the high stakes when small measures of time can mean the difference, officials from the town of Hideout decided to provide funding for a temporary fire station equipped to serve their residents, even if it wasn’t included in the municipality’s budget.

Now, with the temporary fire station weeks away from opening, they’re asking for the community’s help to cover the costs the town fronted. Saturday morning, they held an event just down the hill from the temporary Station 56, to ask for donations. 

Town Councilor Chris Baier said that while there is a fully-operational fire station visible from the rapidly-expanding lakeside community, the Jordanelle Reservoir that stretches between the two points creates a significant delay for emergency responders when they are needed in Hideout.

“It takes a long, long time to drive around,” she said. “Because Hideout is exploding with growth … we want to have emergency services — fire and EMS — close by.”

Though she didn’t know of any major fires that have struck Hideout in the past, she did recall that November 2023, Skyridge Mountain Community’s horse barn that was under construction burned in an early morning blaze visible all around the Jordanelle as an example of the kind of disaster that could devastate the community..

“Even though fire is our No. 1 threat, we — knock wood — have not had any local fires” she said. “With Highway 248 near here, it could take someone throwing a cigarette butt out the window in dry conditions or somebody pulling a trailer dragging a chain that could create sparks in our driest season that could cause a wildfire. We also have a lot of construction going on here, and sometimes there are mishaps at construction sites.”

While fire has existed only as a very-real threat, she said several residents have had very real medical emergencies. 

“That, I think, is what people can really understand as being the greatest benefit of having this fire station with EMS support so close to home,” she said.

Wasatch Fire District Chief Eric Hales said Station 56 will help emergency responders cut 8-12 minutes off their response time in the area.

“We were hoping with them putting in Jordanelle Parkway that it was going to cut off some time, but with as windy as that road is it’s really difficult to get our heavy fire apparatus around there in a timely manner,” he said. “Having equipment on this side that has EMS first response equipment as well as firefighting capabilities is really beneficial.”

While the fire district has a strategic plan with a permanent fire station to be built in Hideout, Hales said the $6 million-$8 million project won’t happen for a few more years. And when it does, Hales said the fire district plans to move the temporary station to other underserved locations until permanent firehouses can be built, making it a cost-effective way to lower response times in those areas. 

While Hideout has overseen site engineering and the Wasatch Fire District has provided emergency equipment, finding a suitable plot of land for the temporary fire house was somewhat more challenging.

Initially, city leaders began working to build the temporary station next to its public works building, but they found the infrastructure costs of doing so burdensome.

GCD, the development and construction company building the Shoreline community next to Highway 248, granted some of its land for free temporary use.

“We’re very, very grateful,” Baier said. 

The temporary station — which will consist of a small structure to house emergency responders 24/7 and a heated, covered 20- by 40-foot membrane tent over a cement pad — may be ready on June 1, Hales said.

He added that he appreciates Hideout’s collaboration with the fire district and for GCD’s land contribution for the temporary station. 

“To the community, we just want to let them know that we thank them for their support for last year’s sales tax initiative that they did pass,” he said. “We are acting on that. We are going to provide the resources that they not only need but deserve throughout this community.”

The post Hideout soon to host Wasatch County’s first temporary fire station appeared first on Park Record.