Unified Fire Authority praises Midvale's decision to opt into fireworks ban, warns of summer fire risks

At the July 21 Midvale City Council meeting, Unified Fire Authority Chief Kaye thanked the city for opting into a fireworks ban for Pioneer Day and briefed the council on wildfire preparedness, recent house fires and response statistics.

Kaye said Midvale’s decision to join a fireworks ban was supported by UFA and noted nearby jurisdictions had reached different decisions. He described UFA’s wildland division staffing—eight full-time sworn personnel, 26 seasonal staff, two wildland engines and a 10-person fuels crew—plus the agency’s unique MOU allowing a municipal wildland-duty officer to order state resources directly. Kaye also described two recent, fast-moving house fires in Midvale (one behind City Hall and one on Birch Street), thanked mutual-aid partners and local businesses that aided responders, and said the department is seeing high call volumes this season.

Kaye also emphasized safety messages: an uptick in e-bike and e-scooter accidents (noting top speeds and bypassing of governors), a warning that parked vehicles can heat up rapidly and that children’s bodies heat faster than adults, and reminders to wear helmets and obey traffic laws. Kaye closed with quarterly statistics for Midvale (e.g., 983 total incidents in the quarter with 324 emergent calls; June: 318 incidents, 99 emergent, 06:21 average emergent response time).

Council members thanked UFA and noted staff will proceed with the state forester application required to finalize the citywide fireworks restriction for Pioneer Day; a professional fireworks show is planned Aug. 1 at the city park.