Price rises for Emigration Canyon fire station

Emigration Canyon residents will get a new fire station, but it's going to cost much more than county officials had planned.

The Salt Lake County Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a $760,000 budget adjustment for the project. The council had already approved $2 million for the station, bringing the grand total to nearly $2.8 million.

Canyon residents and county fire officials have long feared the damage that a big house fire or wildfire could do in Emigration Canyon. Councilman Joe Hatch said approximately 1,000 residents live in the canyon in 430 homes.

Currently, the closest fire station is a Salt Lake City station near Hogle Zoo. Most homes in the canyon are required to have fire sprinklers installed.

Deputy Fire Chief Michael Jensen, who also serves on the Salt Lake County Council, said he and Fire Chief Don Berry worry most about fires along the "wildland urban interface," where wildfires can spread to homes and house fires can spread into wild areas. "That's my biggest fear," Jensen said.

County leaders put the fire-station project out for bids in January, and all six bids came in about 30 percent over budget, said David Delquadro, the council's fiscal analyst. The reason, he said, is escalating costs of construction and materials.

Despite the rising costs, the project needs to be done, Councilman Jeff Allen said.

"Our primary purpose as a county is to provide for the safety and well-being of the people," Allen said. "This provides for that safety and protection."

The new 10,000-square-foot fire station will sit midway up the canyon and will include a two-bay garage.

Currently, Salt Lake City Fire serves as the first responder to Emigration Canyon, with a station near the Hogle Zoo. Unified Fire Authority crews also respond, but it generally takes about 10 minutes to get to the scene. Once the new fire station is up and running, response times to fire and medical calls could drop to between one and three minutes, said Unified Fire Authority Capt. Jay Torgersen.

The council's unanimous approval of the budget adjustment came after a lively discussion.

Hatch said the county should look at other options for providing fire service to Emigration Canyon residents, such as outsourcing fire service to Salt Lake City Fire.

"I'm wondering if we've got a Cadillac up there when a Chevrolet would do just fine," Hatch said. "Is this including way too much, even in the initial scope, for what the purposes we need of protecting these 130 homes?"

But Jensen told Hatch the project's scale is necessary. "You're more that welcome to look at the plans, Joe."

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