WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah — One of the biggest Winter storms to hit Utah in recent years left several communities digging out of the snow throughout the day.
Over in Kearns, Gema Bricaire was hard at work.
"I like this technique because it is a lot more simple," said Bricaire
After spending three hours clearing snow around her own home, she headed over to her grandfather's house to do the same.
"I don't know if they're going go out if they need anything, you know they're family, they're important," said Bricaire.
Bricaire says this is the worst snowstorm she has seen in her lifetime.
Over in West Valley City, the snow presented plenty of challenges for residents, like Debra Mace.
Mace has lived in her home for 55 years.
"I'd say it's almost three feet deep in the back," said Mace. "I was stuck sitting in the snow and there was no leverage to be able to get myself out."
Thankfully, Mace has some pretty good neighbors.
"I had a text from her that says, I've fallen and I can't get up and so we threw on stuff and my son and I came running out and found her back there and I said, are you okay?" said Elizabeth Garfield, Mace's neighbor.
The helping hand from Garfield didn't stop there.
Armed with a shovel, she helped move some of the snow out of Mace's driveway.
"We've been out here than just trying to make sure that we can get as much of it done and they can get into the cars and things as possible," said Garfield.
For Garfield, she says this is what neighbors are for.
"Bottom line is just a good human, that's what we should all be doing, no other way to put it," said Garfield.
Something Mace says she appreciates.
"You try not to call as much as you can because you don't want to abuse their generosity, but on times like this," said Mace.
"She should call more whenever she needs," added Garfield.
When clearing the snow, making sure things like fire hydrants are visible is also crucial.
Ryan Love, the PIO for the Unified Fire Authority says with the type of winter weather we've had, we have seen snowbanks upwards of two to four feet. Love says that means they are probably covering the fire hydrants.
It's something Love says poses a large threat to their firefighting efforts.
He says it is common courtesy and best practice for homeowners to make sure those hydrants are visible and accessible to firefighters, in case of an emergency.
"Our fire department would like to see residents are homeowners clear out their hydrant, that's on their property up to four ft in diameter and that way it gives us access to the hydrant and just in case there is a fire in that in your home or business, we're not wasting any time having to locate the hydrant, which is actually really hard sometimes to do if it's not marked properly and if the snow is banking on top of it," said Love.
During the last snowstorm, Love says the Unified Fire Authority experimented to see how much time was saved during an emergency, if a fire hydrant was cleared, versus one that wasn't.
He says that tests showed they saved more than a minute if the hydrant was visible.
Love also told FOX 13 News on Wednesday that they have been responding to carbon monoxide alarms going off more than ever, during this storm.
He urges people to be mindful and clear the area around their ventilation systems as well. Love says about 350 people die every year, on average, in the United States from carbon monoxide poisoning.
