Home Care In Dammeron Valley, UT

DAMMERON VALLEY — The restructuring of the Dammeron Valley Fire Department has made it not only a place where people want to train, but also a place where they want to work.

The personnel conflicts and communication challenges that once dogged the department are things of the past, and one key change has had a marked impact.

“The thing we have changed in the culture here is this is a place where people want to come,” Fire Chief John Hennessy said.

And a major contributor is the fire academy, he added.

In cooperation with Utah Valley University, the academy started to help secure professionally licensed firefighters, wildland firefighters and emergency medical technicians.

The academy is now considered a regional training center under the Utah Fire and Rescue Academy.

Hennessy said things have changed since and the professionalism is evident now.

Dammeron Valley Fire Special Service District Board Chair Mack Sorenson said the change started with bringing in retired Clark County (Nevada) Fire Department Captain Chet Barnes as the new Chief of the Dammeron Valley Fire and Rescue at Fire Station 13, approximately 12 miles north of St. George, in September 2020.

Barnes did not renew his contract in February 2022, citing personal needs of time with family. Hennessy was appointed to take over the role in March 2022 after serving under Barnes as Deputy Chief.

The board wrote of their gratitude for Barnes in a press release, citing a “remarkable job.”

A far contrast from February 2020 when the restructuring of the department began. All but one certified firefighter left.

The reason for the full reconstruction of the department was cited as “the safety of our department” as stated in a letter from the board. According to the board, safety certifications and equipment had expired without being renewed.

Hennessy said they have trained multiple firefighters who have gone on to work for other departments, but come back during their free time to do hours here “because they like being here.”

“The fact they want to come back here is a testimonial of the culture we have built here,” he said.

Battalion Chief Ryan D’Ambrosio said they train firefighters who mostly want to stay at the small station. He said they now have 39 certified firefighters, with 36 of them nationally EMT certified. A stark contrast to when he was hired in January 2021 with two certified firefighters and eight volunteers.

The new Dammeron Valley Fire & EMS Training Center Fire Academy kicked off on Sept. 16 and will feature a training with live fire during the Sept. 30 weekend. A Utah Fire and Rescue Academy Live Fire Attack prop will be on site.

They will do more live fire and flashover training later on during the academy.

The trainees not only from their department but from others, including Salt Lake City and Las Vegas, Nev.

A new problem has arisen according to the board members, but according to Hennessy, it is a good problem to have.

“We have people that want to come and work here that we just can’t take anymore,” he said.

He added they don’t have the equipment nor the resources, but still, seek employment here because of their reputation.

They implemented Vision 2030 last year which outlines the meeting of the needs of the department by the year 2030. It is a strategic analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and challenges of the department.

This program has five pillars; paid staff and promotion, the professional categories of certification, the communications system, modernization of the fleet and the upkeep of the fire station.

The county commissioners helped with the modernization of the fleet by adding Engine 131 to the fleet. However, the communications system needs work as he said they are operating on Motorola “old dinosaurs.”.

Still, there is a lot of equipment that needs updating.

“We are preparing today for the challenges of tomorrow,” he said.

He said the economic growth and the additions of commercialization will keep adding needs.

The department services Dammeron Valley and surrounding areas, which include 110 square miles. They offer 24/7 service now with their average response time cut by more than half.

“The call volume really started going up and we recognized that the need for coverage was there,” D’Ambrosio said.

They started a reserve program, filling the coverage need.

“We are at a point where we are getting double calls or triple calls all at the same time,” he said, adding they are just trying to keep up with it.

They are expecting over 300 calls this year, an increase of over 150 calls from last year.

Board member Ryan Anderson added the addition of Public Information Officer Hunter Wolfe has been a positive addition, helping to build that reputation.

They have an interagency agreement with Santa Clara – Ivins Fire Department which has been a huge ally. Anderson said they are still playing catch up, an impact felt nationwide as shortages in personnel, finances and resources are prevalent.

Hennessy said they will will continue to move forward, adjusting and changing like a machine in motion.

“I am pretty damn proud —it has taken a lot of work,” Hennessy said. “Not one individual’s but a team effort.”

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The data comes as rising housing prices in cities and suburbs push Americans deeper into fire-prone areas.

By Christopher Flavelle | The New York Times

| Updated: 2:11 p.m.

DAMMERON VALLEY, Utah • The nation’s wildfire risk is widespread, severe and accelerating quickly, according to new data that, for the first time, calculates the risk facing every property in the contiguous United States.

The data, released Monday by the First Street Foundation, a nonprofit research group in New York, comes as rising housing prices in cities and suburbs push Americans deeper into fire-prone areas, with little idea about the specific risk in their new locale.

That’s because the federal government maps flood risk at the property level but doesn’t do the same for wildfires, which are growing more frequent and severe because of climate change.

“For too long, we have let people live in communities, and even attracted them to join a community, while keeping them in a state of ignorance about the risk that they’re under,” said Roy Wright, a former head of risk mitigation at the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Wright said he hoped the new data would “draw attention to the risk and drive people to take action.”

The data is being released at the outset of what promises to be a wildfire season even worse than usual, with blazes already burning in more than a dozen states.

Half of all addresses in the Lower 48 face some degree of wildfire risk, according to First Street’s model, a number that will rise to 56% by 2052. In some rural states, including Wyoming and Montana, more than 90% of properties already face some risk.

(The New York Times) The nation’s wildfire risk is widespread, severe and accelerating quickly, according to new data that, for the first time, calculates the risk facing every property in the contiguous United States.

Of all the addresses nationwide that could be damaged by wildfire, more than 686,000 face at least a 1% chance this year — the same degree of risk that the government uses to determine which houses are sufficiently in danger of flooding that they need flood insurance. But wildfire risk is more dangerous, according to First Street, because, while flooding often damages only parts of a house, fire is more likely to destroy it entirely.

A 1% risk may seem small. But that possibility compounds over time, becoming a 26% risk over 30 years — the span of a typical mortgage. Over the course of that 30-year mortgage, more than 381,000 properties nationwide face a risk of wildfire that is greater than 50%, according to First Street.

First Street’s analysis of property-level exposure to risk is underpinned by a high-resolution model of wildfire behavior across the country. The model is based on a number of factors, including the proximity to combustible fuels that contribute to wildfire — such as shrubs, grasses and trees — historical weather, previous fires, and warming climate conditions such as temperature and precipitation. It builds on estimates from the U.S. Forest Service of community-level wildfire risk.

Researchers at the Forest Service and elsewhere said First Street’s approach was reasonable, although they cautioned that such granular projections should be viewed as estimates only, with significant levels of uncertainty.

Greg Dillon, director of the Forest Service’s Fire Modeling Institute, said people also shouldn’t discount the threat of wildfire just because they’re not in the highest risk categories on such maps. “If you’re in anything but the lowest risk category, you should be talking to your neighbors about risk mitigation and what you can do,” he said. “In a lot of the United States, there’s a potential for fire.”

Perhaps surprisingly, the state with the most properties facing at least a 1% wildfire risk is Florida, with almost 200,000 such parcels. (The next highest are Texas and California, with about 100,000 properties each.) Florida has thick vegetation that can burn easily, including palmetto and pine trees, when dried out by increasingly hot temperatures tied to climate change, according to Michele Steinberg, wildfire division director at the National Fire Protection Association.

In 30 years, First Street’s model predicts that California will take the lead, with 631,755 addresses facing at least a 1% annual risk from wildfire, followed by Texas (474,367 properties) and Florida (383,634). Arizona, Utah, Nevada and New Mexico will each have more than 100,000 properties with that much risk.

Nationwide, the number of existing properties facing at least a 1% risk will almost quadruple, to 2.5 million. And that doesn’t account for subdivisions to be built in the intervening years.

Matthew Eby, executive director of First Street, said he was most surprised by how much the wildfire risk is projected to increase over the next 30 years. He called that escalation “just mind-boggling.”

The level of risk in those states partly reflects their size. When measured as a share of all properties, fire risk is greatest in Utah. More than 5% of properties there have at least a 1% chance of experiencing a wildfire, far more than in any other state. (Only Nevada comes close, followed by New Mexico.) Utah is also one of the fastest-growing states in the country, putting more homes at a risk that, until now, has not been measured.

Perhaps nowhere is the collision between unmapped wildfire risk and America’s feverish housing market clearer than in Dammeron Valley, a small town in southwest Utah.

(Bridget Bennett | The New York Times) A house under construction in Dammeron Valley, a small town in Utah that exemplifies the collision between unmapped wildfire risk and America's feverish housing market, May 9, 2022.

A cattle ranch until 40 years ago, the town is almost absurdly pretty, cupped by gentle hills and carpeted by sagebrush and juniper. The only commercial property is a small vineyard that grows malbec and pinot noir. On the valley floor, many properties have horses. Curving roads lead into the foothills, where newer olive-colored houses with picture windows peek out from clusters of pinyon pines. A constant breeze helps keep the town a few degrees cooler than St. George, Washington County’s main city, 15 miles south and 2,000 feet lower.

But as the climate warms, the rolling hills and foliage that make Dammeron Valley so attractive are increasingly making it dangerous.

When Lonnie Andrews moved from Southern California two years ago, everything seemed to be going right. His money went further, he made new friends and the value of his house kept rising as Americans increasingly flocked to this corner of southwest Utah, the fastest-growing area in the United States.

Then, the hillside in front of Andrews’ new house burst into flames.

Firefighters kept the blaze from consuming his side of town. But soon after, another wildfire approached from a different direction, only to narrowly miss Dammeron Valley again.

“We hadn’t been here but a couple of months,” said Andrews, a former bull rider, who said no one warned him about wildfires when he bought his house.

All of Dammeron Valley’s roughly 500 properties face at least a 1% annual wildfire risk, data show. For almost 200 of them, the risk is 5% or greater. By 2052, every property in town is projected to reach that 5% threshold.

Yet even as the risk grows, so does the population. The St. George metro area, which includes Dammeron Valley and the rest of Washington County, increased by 5% between 2020 and 2021, adding about 10,000 new residents, a rate greater than any other metro area in the country, the Census Bureau announced in March.

As St. George grows, more people are moving to outlying towns such as Dammeron Valley. One evening last week, Randy Ruesch was walking his two cocker spaniels with his daughter Haily in front of the home he is building at the edge of town.

Ruesch, who lives in St. George, said he had decided to move to Dammeron Valley for more space. “It’s getting too congested,” he said. Gesturing toward his new house, Ruesch noted with satisfaction that no matter where one stood, it was impossible to get an unimpeded view of the structure — there were too many trees around it.

The threat of wildfires had given him no pause about building a home here, Ruesch said, calling it the price of the peace he finds in living at the edge of the woods. “It’s kind of like the reward for the risk,” he said.

Up the hill, Layne Hanna gave a visitor a tour of his recently completed 2,500-square-foot house with white walls, polished concrete floors and 12-foot ceilings. Glass doors open onto a pool deck on the west side of the building, where swimmers can watch the sun set over Nevada.

Hanna and his wife are moving to Dammeron Valley from Boise, Idaho. They wanted to retire somewhere with milder winters. He said he knows the pinyon pines and junipers around his property are a fire risk. But if he cut them down, he would be able to see his neighbor’s house, and vice versa, something he claimed neither he nor the neighbor much wanted.

“It’s a gamble,” Hanna said of living in the house. “But I try to look at the positive.”

Local officials no longer want to gamble. Two years ago, the town hired a professional fire chief. To fund the position and upgrade services, officials had to double the annual fee that residents pay for the fire department, to $480.

The reaction was not positive. “You would have thought we were taking babies away from their moms,” said Mack Sorenson, chair of the county-appointed board that oversees the fire department.

Then, in September 2020, a wildfire started on the far side of the extinct Veyo Volcano, a 5,000-foot cinder cone shaped like a saddle and forming Dammeron Valley’s western boundary. The fire crested the top of the volcano, then swept down the near slope, feeding on sagebrush and leaving behind charred husks of trees.

The newly professionalized Dammeron Valley Fire Department set up a line between the hill and the town and stopped the fire from reaching homes. Complaints about the fire fee stopped, Sorenson said.

Construction is unlikely to slow down. Last week, Sorenson drove past the spot where the 2020 fire was stopped. Just below the fire line, a developer has plans to build more homes. Sorenson said he expected those plans to go ahead. He pointed to the land that almost burned.

“This,” Sorenson said, “is all going to be new houses.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

ST. GEORGE — Personnel from multiple fire fighting agencies conducted simulations and tested new vehicles Saturday morning in Dammeron Valley.

Exercises were simulated in the field, focusing on quickly attacking wildland fires that interface with an urban environment.

In other words, they practiced fighting wildfires that threaten to burn homes and structures.

The training comes right as the wildfire season is expected to flare up.

Washington County Fire Warden Heber Heyder was one of several Utah fire wardens leading their crews in Saturday’s simulations, dubbed the Utah Wildland Engine Training.

“We train year round, especially in the summertime, getting ready for the wildland (fire) season, which is shaping up to be fairly busy for us down here in the low country,” Heyder told St. George News. “I think we will see activity — whether that’s more than usual remains to be seen.”

About 30 or 40 firefighters gathered in the staging area at Dammeron Valley Fire Department to get briefed before the simulations started.

Fire fighting agencies from the city, county and state level all gathered together for the simulations, preparing for large-scale operations that might have to be utilized in the future.

“Wildland-urban interface is what we’re training on today,” Heyder stated. “So structure triage, structure protection. Also to get our cooperators working together and familiar with each other and with tactics that we use in Southwest Utah.”

Another focus at the event was to educate and familiarize fire fighters with new equipment.

“Absolutely, become familiar with new equipment they need to use, break it in, get to that point where they don’t have to think about it, just get in and use it efficiently and effectively,” Heyder noted.

After simulated emergency calls came through dispatch, engines from multiple districts rolled out from the Dammeron Valley Fire Department and dispersed to seven different sites featuring 15 different homes around the valley.

Engine teams at each site learned to evaluate the simulated threat to the structures present and determine an attack plan.

Also important was to determine the hose lays, which is the pattern of laying fire hoses around structures to facilitate maximum water flow.

Each engine crew worked the site and then had their assessments and attack plans discussed by mentors and instructors, going over what they did or didn’t do in their simulations and what might have worked better.

Personnel were told at the briefing that there was no right or wrong way to do things, rather, the purpose of the simulation was to become everyone familiar with what will be needed in the event of an incident in the area.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.

ST. GEORGE — Two men were publicly honored Tuesday with Gift of Life awards for life-saving efforts they made that saved a man who was trapped in a burning car.

During a Washington County Commission meeting held Tuesday, the Dammeron Valley Fire and Rescue recognized Jayden Darrington, of St. George, and Washington County Sheriff’s Sgt. Dustin “Dusty” Killpack for their involvement in an incident that took place June 9 at 2 a.m. on state Route 18.

Dammeron Valley Fire and Rescue and other first responders received an alert about a vehicle crash that morning in the area of mile marker 13 on SR-18. While they were en route, Darrington happened to be passing by the crash site and reported the vehicle was on fire. He also stopped to render whatever aid he could.

“Jayden sprang into action, ran down the embankment to the burning vehicle and pried open the door,” Dammeron Valley Fire and Rescue Battalion Chief Ryan D’ambrosio said during the commission meeting. “After the door was opened, he pulled the patient out of the vehicle and onto the ground.”

By that time, Killpack arrived and helped Darrington carry the man — who had been the vehicle’s driver — safely away from the burning wreck that was swiftly engulfed in flames.

Both men showed “extreme courage,” D’ambrosio said, and for that, the department wanted to recognize them.

Applause erupted in the commission chambers as Killpack walked up to receive the award. Darrington was not present. D’ambrosio told St. George News that Darrington likely wasn’t able to attend due to work. However, the department plans to have him out to their board meeting Thursday in order to officially recognize his life-saving actions.

While Killpack said he appreciated the recognition, he said he was just doing his job, and Darrington was the one worthy of the praise.

“This individual showed up on the scene with no idea what was going on and he jumped into action,” Killpack said.

In contact, it took Killpack nine minutes to reach the scene to help carry the injured driver away from the burning mess of crushed metal. The car itself had gone off the road, knocking down a 55 mph speed limit sign along the way

“We really need to be recognizing (Darrington) because of what he did,” he said.

If Darrington hadn’t arrived when he did, the driver would have likely perished in the spending fire, D’ambrosio said. Vehicle fires can “move quick” and it is often too late for those caught inside to be saved by the time firefighters arrive, he said.

“We see (Darrington and Killpack) as going above and beyond,” D’ambrosio said. “They were in the right place at the right time.”

According to the original report of the crash, the driver – and a passenger who had been able to escape the wreck on their own – had sustained “significant injuries” to their upper bodies and heads from the crash.

The cause of the crash is also suspected by authorities to have been the driver operating the car while intoxicated and possibly driving over twice the posted speed limit.

Washington County Sheriff’s Sgt. Lucas Alfred said the passenger told responders they were traveling at around 120 mph at the time of the crash.

Both the driver and passenger were taken to St. George Regional Hospital for care. Soon after, the driver was flown to Las Vegas by helicopter where he was placed in an intensive care unit. While D’ambrosio said he was unaware of the extent of the man’s injuries or what level of recovery has taken place, he said he knew the man spent nearly a month in the hospital before being able to return home.

Alfred, who was present at Tuesday’s commission meeting, said he appreciated Dammeron Valley Fire and Rescue’s recognizing Killpack’s part in the incident. While he said “we’re just out there doing our job,” recognition by other groups helps “let the public know we’re out there doing this type of work.”

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.

ST. GEORGE — Residents and resorts were still dealing with the aftereffects Thursday in the Dammeron Valley and surrounding areas after two large storm cells crossed over the region Wednesday evening. Efforts are underway to prepare for more rain, as the current monsoon storm pattern is expected to continue.

On Wednesday, the first of two storm cells formed above the Dammeron Valley area, sending a downpour of torrential rain upon the region, Hunter Wolfe, communications director for the Dammeron Valley Fire Department, told St. George News.

“I mean it was relentless for more than 20 minutes or so,” he said. “And then we got hit with a second cell that did not last as long, but the amount of water that came down was “pretty surprising.”

Following the first spell of heavy rain, the Dammeron Valley Fire Department deployed all resources to address any problems, using every engine, truck, and other apparatus that were deployed from the station. Crews set out to first check on the areas most prone to flooding, while other members were checking a number of residential neighborhoods, culverts and drainage ditches for flooding.

Once the second storm cell hit, Wolfe said, many of the culverts became overwhelmed. At that point. the water overflowed into residential areas where homes and other structures were located.

“Those culverts put up a valiant fight,” Wolfe said. “But at some point, they were inundated with water.”

One home reported flooding in the basement with two to three inches of water. The fire department responded to the residence Wednesday night and helped remove the water using electric pumps.

The overflow of water also carried with it a tremendous amount of mud and debris that was swept across a number of areas, and crews went out with chainsaws to cut and remove the larger branches and other vegetation that were caught in the overflow.

Meanwhile, crews and residents were filling sandbags that were made available to the public, and the Washington County Public Works Department was working to provide an additional load of sand late Thursday.

The fire department was also notified of flooding in the Veyo Pool and Crawdad Canyon area, where heavy rainfall not only caused flooding, but sent a river of mud down the canyon and into the pool. Emergency crews were out there Thursday with electric pumps and other equipment to remove the mud and debris from the property.

What did hold up during the storm was the large culvert that was installed under state Route 18 — a project that was completed after the unprecedented flooding from the storms in 2018 when two massive storms flooded the highway and left the valley with significant damage, Wolfe said, and also prompted a number of improvements across the region.

A number of new culverts and drainage ditches were installed, as well as other improvements designed to divert the water away from residential areas by moving it towards the undeveloped public land regions.

More preparations are being made, Wolfe said, as the storms do not appear to be ceasing anytime soon. He added crews remain on high alert as flash flood watches and inclement weather can result in more excessive rainfall over the next several days.

He also recommended that residents maintain situational awareness and if a heavy rainstorm hits, it is important to continue monitoring the property for flooding. Placing sandbags around the home or other structures can help divert the water away from the property. Sandbags can be picked up at the Dammeron Valley Fire Department, or can be delivered to residents if needed.

Keeping an eye on the homes located next door or nearby is also a good idea, Wolfe said, as a number of the residences in the valley serve as a second home and may be unoccupied when the storm hits. If the home appears to be in jeopardy, the fire department can respond with sandbags or other resources to help mitigate the damage.

Wolfe said water levels and the rate the water is flowing can quickly change, so residents are cautioned to remain vigilant and avoid flood waters at all costs — “turn around, don’t drown,” he added.

Anyone needing assistance is asked to call 911 instead of the fire department, which will streamline the operation and ensure that crews respond to each call with the appropriate supplies or equipment.

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