Firefighters Return to Fire Station Damaged by Fire

Alex Cabrero ReportingFive days after their building burned firefighters are back in their Draper station tonight. There is still plenty of damage, but nowhere near enough to keep those firefighters from coming back home.

They were staying at another Draper fire station while engineers checked the structural integrity of their building. When it was declared safe, you almost needed a stopwatch to see how fast they started moving back in.

In no time at all Draper firefighters were back home.

Bat. Chief Mike Ylibarri: "They're excited to get back here."

Excited is an understatement. For these guys, five days away was about six days too many.

Bat. Chief Mike Ylibarri, Unified Fire Authority: "It's nice that it was within a week's time. It was a little quicker than we had anticipated, but we'll take that."

Especially after how their fire station looked early Sunday morning. The firefighters were sleeping when all this began. A police officer saw it and pounded on their door until they woke up. Then they went right to work putting it out.

Capt. Jay Torgersen, Unified Fire Authority: "Firefighters take a lot of pride in what they do, and firefighters that were here that night did a lot to limit the damage this fire did."

They had to stay at another Draper fire station until their building could be declared safe. Now that it is, it's back to work here 24 hours a day.

Capt. Jay Torgersen: "A lot of fire, but it didn't damage the structural integrity of the building."

Sure, while the firefighters were at another station, fire protection here in the community was still good, but firefighters we spoke with say there's just something about being able to work out of your own home.

Bat. Chief Mike Ylibarri: "A third of our lives are spent living in these buildings, and they do take on ownership and a sense of a home because that's how we live."

There is still plenty to fix where the fire started, but overall the damage isn't enough to keep these guys out any longer.

Capt. Jay Torgersen; "This is great for the guys and especially great for this part of Draper."

The cause of the fire is still being investigated, but we're told a power-charger to an ATV is being closely looked at. As for how long it will take to fully repair the building, firefighters aren't sure, but that doesn't really matter to them right now because tonight they're back home anyway.

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