Bountiful Fire Chief presents 2024 annual report; department highlights staffing, calls and awards

Fire Chief Stewart presented the Bountiful Fire Department's 2024 annual report to the Bountiful City Council on July 22, outlining staffing levels, call volumes and seasonal operational challenges as the department entered its busiest month.

Stewart said the department has 97 sworn firefighters with a normal full staffing of 29 personnel on duty; the department allows staffing to fall to 24 before mandatory overtime is used. For the previous year Chief Stewart reported total calls for service of approximately 7,503, with April as the slowest month and July the busiest.

Seasonal and special-event staffing was a focal point. Stewart said the department staffed an extra 20 positions for special functions during the early part of the fireworks season and maintained two-person wildland patrols to monitor brush-fire risk. He said 10 special-function shifts went unfilled (either covered by duty crew or left unfilled for noncritical tasks) and 12 regular overtime shifts were used to maintain daily staffing.

Chief Stewart summarized the department's call profile: the top five emergency medical service calls were falls, sick-person calls, auto accidents, facility transfers and unconscious persons. Top fire-type responses were vehicle fires, grass fires, building fires, cooking fires and electrical equipment or power-pole fires. The chief also reported six calls during the period that were associated with fireworks (mostly grass or container fires) and noted that recent weather had mitigated some of the worst risk.

The department highlighted team awards and training: the hazmat team received the LEPC hazmat team of the year award for Utah; the technical rescue team participated in the Petzl international rescue competition; and a department team won first place in a firefighter challenge at Hill Air Force Base. The fire department also participates annually in community programs such as burn camp and maintains an honor guard team.

Council members thanked the chief for the report and asked what more the elected body could do to support the department in July. Chief Stewart said the city's fireworks restrictions and visible public messaging were helpful and that continued council support and attention to operations during peak months are appreciated. He offered copies of the illustrated report to council and the public and noted additional copies were available on the department's website.