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HUNTINGTON, Emery County — Protecting structures in the Trail Mountain Fire has a different meaning for one crew member assigned to help battle a wildfire blazing in central Utah.
Dustin Jensen, an incident technical support specialist for the Great Basin Type 2 Incident Management Team, is the son of Gary “Gibb” Jensen, a Mine Safety and Health Administration inspector who died trying to rescue victims after the 2007 Crandall Canyon Mine disaster.
When a prescribed burn grew out of hand after an unexpected thunderstorm blew through the area earlier in the month, crews began looking at areas that could be in the fire’s path, according to the Emery County Sheriff’s Office. They discovered one of the locations included the headstones erected for those killed in the mine collapse.
The fire traveled closer to the memorial and the entire mine last week, officials said. That's when a decision was made to place sprinklers around the surrounding mine, including the memorial to those killed in the collapse, to help prevent it from being destroyed by the fire.
While Gary Jensen was buried at a cemetery in Sevier County, Dustin Jensen thought of the others who died in the collapse whose headstones are in that area because their bodies were left entombed in the closed-off mine.
“We have that peaceful place to visit, but others who lost family members at Crandall don’t have that,” Dustin Jensen said, according to a Facebook post from the sheriff’s office. “They have the memorial. That is their peaceful place.”
On Saturday, Dustin Jensen got clearance from officials to go to the memorial. He and other personnel spent a few minutes reflecting at the memorial while crews battling the fire in the distance, officials said.
The Trail Mountain Fire has burned more than 17,500 acres, or more than 27.5 square miles since early June. Bureau of Land Management officials said it was 79 percent contained, as of Monday afternoon, and more than 300 personnel were still assigned to fight it.
As for doing his part to help control the fire, Dustin Jensen said the people he works with are “like family.”
“Everyone supports each other and has fun, but they take their jobs seriously,” he said. “They knew how to take care of the mine and the memorial.”
Editor's note: This article was corrected to reflect that Dustin Jensen is a member of the incident management team that helps plan how crews attack the fire and not a ground crew member.
