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Fruit Heights hears quarterly fire report; officials say new station needed to reduce response times
Summary
The fire service reported quarterly calls and urged support for a new station; officials said crews are strained by call clusters, gated community access and aging facilities.
Fruit Heights City Council received a quarterly report from the regional fire service, which described call volume, staffing levels and the department’s need for a new station to reduce response times.
Fire officials told the council the quarter included 33 medical calls, 13 transports to hospital and 14 fire-related incidents, and that each response typically uses at least four personnel and two apparatus. “We have 33 medical, 13 of those were transports … and then we responded on 14 fire related calls as well,” a fire department representative said.
The representative said the department is staffed with six full‑time and two part‑time personnel per day (not counting the reporting officer) and that clustered calls can deplete available crews: “If we send four people on a call, that only leaves us with three people in the station. And if we get a second call, that takes all of them.”
Officials described the current station as 35 years old and too small to accommodate staffing needs. They said the plan is to move operations into a new station once built, then remodel the old station for other municipal use. “The completion of the new fire station is going to help us reduce our response times to your area,” the fire representative said.
Council members raised concerns about access in gated communities, occasional gate malfunctions and how staffing gaps affect response capability. The department also described volunteer and CERT support roles for nonmedical tasks such as debris removal and scene support.
No formal council action was taken at the meeting; staff and the council discussed the station project and budgetary planning in concept and asked staff to include station planning in upcoming capital budget discussions.
