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Sandy City ready for next storm after fire destroys 11 snow plows

Posted at 5:21 PM, Feb 03, 2017
and last updated 2017-02-03 19:21:47-05

SANDY, Utah – A fire at Sandy City Public Works destroyed 11 of the city’s 18 snowplows last week, but thanks to the help of some neighboring communities the city is ready for the next snow storm.

Officials estimate last Friday’s fire caused about $5 million in damages at the Sandy City Public Works Department.

"It's been overwhelming!" Mayor Tom Dolan said of the days that followed.

Dolan said there was an overwhelming response in terms of equipment and manpower to help Sandy meet their obligations in the middle of winter.

"We actually have more trucks now than we had before the fire,” he said. “We’ve got trucks from UDOT, Salt Lake County, West Jordan, Bountiful—and I received more offers yesterday for trucks if we need them to get us through the winter, so we are up and ready to go."

The weather cooperated in terms of no new snow this week, and now with another storm on the way, Sandy City officials say they are fully prepared to meet the challenge thanks to their friends.

“We lost 11 trucks last week, we've replaced those and then have a couple extra right now for some contingencies,” said Paul Browning, an assistant public works director. “As a community, we are ready...if the snow flies we will be out there plowing it, right now we have crews out there taking care of asphalt patching, concrete work."

Dolan said a week can make a big difference.

"It was a week ago, we were standing here with a tragedy trying to figure out what we were going to do, and it all came together within days, and the insurance agencies have been here, so we're going to be in good shape,” he said.

While these temporary measures will help the city through the rest of this winter, the city council recently approved a budget request to help replace the 11 snow plows destroyed in the blaze.