Kane County Commission declares economic disaster for wildfire-hit businesses, advances EMS and recovery steps

Kane County commissioners voted on July 22, 2025 to approve a draft declaration of economic disaster for businesses affected by recent wildfires and North Rim closures, contingent on edits to the draft and verification of numbers. The measure is intended primarily to enable local businesses to seek Small Business Administration disaster loans and to signal regional economic harm to state and federal partners.

The commission directed county staff to finalize changes and submit the declaration to the county’s emergency management and then to the state for further action. Chair (unnamed) said the declaration is meant to “treat this as the economic disaster it truly is,” citing lost reservations and immediate revenue impacts for tour operators.

The meeting also produced immediate administrative steps to support continuity of emergency medical services. Ben Armstrong, the hospital EMS director, asked the commission to request that the Utah Bureau of EMS realign Cedar Mountain’s license expiration with the county hospital’s license so a single request for proposals (RFP) could be issued on a single cycle. Commissioners voted to submit a formal letter of request to the bureau and to proceed with an RFP process as needed.

Other actions approved or advanced on the consent calendar and later in the meeting included: • East Zion Trails cultural survey contract: Commissioners approved contract services for cultural and wildlife surveys for the East Zion Trails project conditioned on three edits—adding the acreage figure, clarifying a completion timeline (by the end of the year), and tightening language around per-site charges. Kelly Stowell, who manages trails work, said the surveys must be done in snow-free months and staff will confirm acreage in the revised contract. • Annexation into hospital special service district: The commission unanimously passed Resolution R2025-24 to annex the towns of Bigwater and Houghton into the county’s hospital special service district to ensure consistent hospital service coverage and enable municipal agreements. • Support for North Rim Lodge rebuild: The commission unanimously adopted Resolution R2025-25 expressing support for rebuilding the historic North Rim Lodge after the Dragon Bravo fire and asked staff to distribute the signed resolution to state and federal partners.

Commissioners and staff discussed wildfire-size figures in the draft declaration during the meeting. After checking situation reports and discussion in the room, the group used adjusted figures in the draft: Dragon Bravo (reported in the meeting) at roughly 12,500 acres and the White Sage fire at about 58,500 acres; the commission instructed staff to confirm exact numbers before final submission.

The county’s chair and emergency-management staff noted the measure does not itself create direct grants but is designed to unlock resources such as SBA disaster loans for affected businesses. County Attorney Jeffrey Stott advised that the county will submit the document as a formal request and that submissions will follow the state’s DEM process.

The declaration and EMS steps now move to county staff for final edits and submission; commissioners said they will monitor state responses and next procedural steps.