SANDY, Utah — Over the summer, six firefighters left the Sandy Fire Department all at once to find jobs at neighboring agencies, saying the department didn’t have enough staff to feel safe on the job.
The city has since made changes to require more people on calls, but the fire chief believes more needs to happen to get staff to stay.
Fire Station 31 is one of Sandy’s five fire stations and it’s busiest. It’s sat at the corner of 9000 South and 150 East since 1983, but fire chief Jeff Bassett said the department has “outgrown the space.”
The building has earthquake damage to its foundation, rooms not meeting fire code, and leaking ceilings.
“We change out the ceiling tiles monthly,” said Deputy Fire Chief Ryan McConaghie. “Just kind of a work-in-progress.”
“Firefighters spend a third of their lives in a fire station. When you consider that amount of time, a fire station really is their home away from home,” said Bassett.
Bassett said the department hit its “breaking point” in July.
“We lost six firefighters at once who went to adjoining cities that are staffed appropriately,” he said.
For years, the department only had two firefighters per engine responding to calls. In comparison, the nearby Murray Fire Department has three per unit, and the Unified Fire Authority has four.
“If you don’t have enough resources, you can’t come in and be effective in what we’re doing,” said Bassett.
Sandy Mayor Monica Zoltanski moved the department’s minimum to three. She said the change brought “immediate benefits.”
“To have a piece of equipment and apparatus out at a fire and a response of just two to manage it and run the scene is not enough,” she said. “Three isn’t even enough, but its’ moving us in the right direction as a city.”
The city hopes a brand new Station 31 can bring in more firefighters and make them stay for the safety of Sandy.
“Constantly, every day, our firefighters see things that are not only physically demanding, emotionally demanding, mentally demanding, so we need to create a space for them to de-stress, refocus, and be ready for that next call,” said Bassett.
Bassett and the mayor unveiled the new concept to a town hall Monday night. The new station would move a few blocks away near the Real Salt Lake stadium on an expanded Monroe Street.
The project is still not approved. It could cost the city $11 to $15 million. Depending on how the city council approves the mayor’s proposed budget, construction could start later this year.
