Sandy City fire officials outline wildland-urban interface plan, outreach and lessons from recent deployments

Sandy City fire officials detailed the city's Community Wildland Protection Plan (CWPP) and ongoing preparedness and mitigation work at the City Council meeting on March 4.

The presentation explained current equipment and training upgrades, outreach efforts to homeowners in the wildland-urban interface (WUI), and coordination with county and state partners. Officials also summarized what crews learned while deployed to several large Western wildfires, including the recent California incidents.

Chief McConaughey said the department's goals are to reduce risk in the WUI through prevention, mitigation and preparedness. He described specialized apparatus and added training that allow crews to access remote areas quickly for a fast initial attack. "If we can get to those fires quickly and prevent them from becoming catastrophic, that's our main goal," McConaughey said.

Matt Stubner, who leads Sandy's WUI program, walked the council through the CWPP's three principles: preparedness, prevention and mitigation. He described updates to standard operating guidelines, including use of the LCES framework (lookouts, communications, escape routes and safety zones) and participation in a WUI-focused engine academy that provides advanced training beyond standard structural firefighting.

Fire Marshal (identified in the presentation as the department's fire marshal) summarized how the 2006 Utah Wildland-Urban Interface code (adopted locally in 2017) informs development requirements in high-risk areas. He said the code addresses water supply, road width and second means of egress, roof and vent construction, and defensible space standards tied to slope and fuel conditions. "Part of what we have identified as mitigation for this hazard is ... reducing the fuel load ... and also having the proper water supply and the size of the roads and a second means of egress," the fire marshal said.

Emergency Manager David Larson described the city's emergency operations center (EOC) functions and urged residents to sign up for Sandy's alert system (sandyutah.gov/myalerts). Larson also emphasized the Ready, Set, Go program and repeated the advice that households should know two evacuation routes and have grab-and-go kits prepared.

Officials announced a community Wildland Outreach Day on May 17 at the Bell Canyon Preservation trailhead from 9 a.m. to noon; the event will include apparatus displays, wildfire-hardening information and a planned helicopter visit. Stubner said the department's QR-code home assessment tool has led the department to complete roughly 80 home evaluations and that the department is scheduling HOA-focused outreach with Pepperwood Creek HOA and others.

Several firefighters who deployed to out-of-state incidents described the scale of recent Western fires and operational challenges, including rapid fire spread under extreme winds, large aircraft use, and the strain on water systems. A firefighter who returned from the Palisades (California) deployment described neighborhoods where fire behavior changed quickly and where some neighborhoods lost many structures in a short period.

Council members asked about coordination with neighboring cities and Salt Lake County for evacuation messaging and routes. Larson confirmed the city is working with Salt Lake County Emergency Management on an all-hazards countywide evacuation plan and that Sandy is supplying neighborhood-level evacuation-route data for integration.

Officials repeatedly urged residents in WUI areas to take personal steps to harden their properties and practice evacuation plans. The presentation closed with a request for continued council support of staffing, equipment and community outreach to carry out the CWPP.

Looking ahead, the department asked council to continue supporting training, interagency coordination and funding for fuel-reduction work and water/systems improvements in high-risk neighborhoods.