Unified Fire Authority honors firefighters who died in the line of duty

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RIVERTON – A small crowd of firefighters, city officials and others gathered at a Unified Fire Authority station Monday night to pay their respects to the firefighters who have died nationally in the line of duty.

The department held a lighting and bell-ringing ceremony as it illuminated all of its stations and buildings in red as part of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation memorial week.

“It’s really held to respect the firefighters and their family who have given the ultimate sacrifice,” said Chief Dan Petersen during a brief prepared statement. “This year ... there will be 82 firefighters who died in the line of duty this year and another 21 who died in previous years but were determined to be line of duty deaths this year.”

Petersen told the group he felt it was important to stand in solidarity and honor those firefighters’ service.

“Our firefighters face the potential of an ultimate sacrifice every time they come to work,” Petersen said. “They may not face it every shift, but the potential is there every time.”

Petersen also observed in his statement the 2018 passing of Draper Fire Battalion Chief Matt Burchett, who previously served in his department for 20 years. Burchett was killed by a falling tree while battling the Mendocino Complex Fire in California.

Unified Fire Authority spokesman Patrick Costin said every firefighter accepts the potential for hazard as part of the job.

“It’s in the back of your head, but you try and keep it there and just keep it in the background,” he acknowledged.

The department plans to keep its buildings illuminated in red at night through Oct. 4.

“We don’t forget the fallen firefighters,” Costin said. “It’s a way to respect them and just always remember them.”

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Andrew Adams

Andrew Adams reports for KSL 5 News at 4 p.m., 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. Andrew’s news credits include breaking and covering national stories. He has followed Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney to primary states Iowa in 2008 and New Hampshire in 2012 and covered the Romney campaign on election night in Boston in 2012. He has covered the Susan Cox Powell case extensively since her disappearance in 2009. Andrew’s February 2011 investigative work on four Walmart workers fired after stopping an armed shoplifter was featured on CNN and other national outlets. He covered the Crandall Canyon Mine Disaster, the legal proceedings of polygamist leader Warren Jeffs, the federal conviction and sentencing of Elizabeth Smart kidnapper Brian David Mitchell, and the movements of BYU and the University of Utah through conference realignment. Andrew is also proud of a cameo in 2011 on Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report. Andrew’s awards include regional Edward R. Murrow wins in radio for writing, investigative reporting and sports reporting. He was also part of the “Utah’s Morning News” radio broadcast that won a 2011 national Murrow for best newscast.