Salt Lake City Fire Department

11/01/2025

Sending a huge Congratulations to Firefighter/Paramedic Jim Williams on his Retirement! 🔥🚒⚕️

A little bit about Jim… He began his career with the Salt Lake City Fire Department on October 16, 2006, and officially hung up his helmet on October 27, 2025. Marking 19 years of dedicated service to the residents of Salt Lake City!

Throughout his career, Jim served on multiple committees including Safety, Awards & Recognition, and was a Platoon Training Coordinator as well as a Certified Wellness Coordinator. He held bids at Stations 1, 2, 6, and 8, finishing his career at Station 3, though most of his years were spent proudly serving on Medic Engine 2. He also had a few deployments fighting wildfires to Oregon and California.

Jim was hired on as a paramedic, and his skill, leadership, and dedication to his crew and community set a lasting example for all who had the privilege to work alongside him.

Congratulations, Jim! The SLCFD family thanks you for your service, commitment, and friendship. Enjoy your well-deserved retirement!

10/24/2025

12 New Heavy Rescue Technicians Ready for the Call!

A huge congratulations to the graduates of the Salt Lake City Fire Department’s 2025 Heavy Rescue School!

After five weeks of intense, specialized training, 12 firefighters—9 from SLCFD and 3 from West Jordan—are now certified as Heavy Rescue Technicians. This expertise means they are trained for the community’s complex and technical emergencies, including rope rescue, confined space, structural collapses, trench rescues, stabilizing overturned vehicles, machine entrapment and high-angle rope rescues.

Their dedication to mastering these critical skills is a vital service to our community. Well done!

10/22/2025

👻 Fun Fest is back! Join us at the Public Safety Building this Friday, October 24, from 1 to 4 p.m. for an afternoon of fall fun, food, and family activities.

Salt Lake City Fire Department will be doing the famous pumpkin drop from the very top of the ladder on the truck! 🚒

This free community event is open to everyone! So come celebrate, connect, and enjoy the day with your local first responders. 👩‍🚒👮‍♀️

10/13/2025

Salt Lake City Fire Department extends our deepest condolences and unwavering support to the South Davis Metro Fire Department, close friends, and family of Josh. We are with you in solidarity, support and love.

10/08/2025

🔥 Salt Lake City Fire Department is
teaming up with NFPA to promote this year’s Fire Prevention Week, October 5-11, Charge Into Fire Safety: Lithium-Ion Batteries in Your Home.

Help us spread the word about making smart choices when it comes to buying, charging, and recycling lithium-ion batteries—because the wrong move can
lead to a fire. 🔋

For more info visit: fpw.org.

10/02/2025

Camp Athena & Prometheus 💪

This is where teenage determination wears oversized turnouts and boots.
For one day each these young men and women gear up as SLCFD puts them through real drills, real fire, and shows them what it means to be part of the fire family. At the end of the day, they leave knowing they’re even stronger and more capable than they imagined.

It’s hard work to say the least. It’s full of sweat, grit, laughter, and just enough soot to make it official. Watching them push through challenges, rely on teamwork, and discover their confidence is powerful to watch.

Thanks to SLCFD’s Training and Community Relations Division, we had another successful year and even more empowered young people who will always be part of our fire family.

09/30/2025

09/19/2025

Ever wonder what it takes to become a Salt Lake City firefighter? Let’s step into their boots and take a look! 🔥

In this carousel you’ll get a look at a POV of recruits from class 56 tackling a car fire prop, finding the breath to share his story, and building strength and resilience through workouts in full gear.

These recruits balance grit with humility which is one of the qualities that makes firefighters so unique. The recruit journey is serious work, but with just enough silly moments mixed in to remind us why this family matters.

09/17/2025

❤️‍🔥 The Chronicles of SLCFD ❤️‍🔥

Car fire in Sugar House
- The fuel tank ruptured causing the fire to try and extend into the house. BUT we brought the bubble bath, and the fire, like most of us, couldn’t resist a bubble bath.
Disclaimer: This is foam, not a bubble bath as you can tell from the lack of rubber duckies 🐥
FYI: foam is used sometimes for fires involving flammable liquids because it helps smother the vapors and cuts off oxygen to the fire.

Grass fire with commercial exposures in West Valley
- SLCFD, West Valley Fire Department,and UFA all teamed up to assist a brush fire that was threatening buildings in the area. Incident was handled by true professionals

Airport Apparatus Training
- Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting aka ARFF crews trained on the mobile fire prop. This simulation exposed real flames, allowing crews to train in a real life scenario.

Safety
- Transportation requested SLCFD’s help filling barriers with water so sidewalks could safely reopen around the Main Street fire area. Request heard and we were on it!

09/11/2025

At 8:46 this morning, as the world turned quietly for just a moment, members of our department who were not actively responding to emergencies paused in solemn silence.

We stood in honor of the 343 firefighters, 71 police officers, 8 EMTs and paramedics, and the nearly 3,000 innocent lives lost on that fateful morning—September 11, 2001.

In that stillness, we remembered. We reflected on the bravery, the heartbreak, and the enduring impact of a day that forever changed our nation. We remembered the selfless heroes who ran toward danger, the loved ones left behind, and the unity that rose from the ashes.

On behalf of the Salt Lake City Fire Department, we stand in remembrance.
We stand with the families whose lives were irrevocably changed. We stand with our fellow Americans, with our community here in Utah, and with the enduring spirit of this great nation.

We will never forget.

09/09/2025

SLCFD celebrates the retirement of Matt Ballard. 💪

He is one of the most respected, liked, loved, and downright unforgettable firefighters to wear the patch.

The truth is, there isn’t enough caption space to capture the impact he had or all the ways he made us, and this department better.

Simply put, He was the firefighter everyone wanted to work with.

Congratulations on your retirement you’ve more than earned it. SLCFD is lucky to have called you one of our own.

09/04/2025

SLCFD is proud of two of our own💪
Captain Steve Crandall and Paramedic/ FF Richard Platt, who during a SWAT response, earned “The Police Meritorious Unit Citation”
Their dedication and attitude remind us what it means to answer the call when it matters most. Truly inspirational!