Eagle Mountain officials want to challenge a state decision that says cities must cover the costs of fighting wildfires on state land within city boundaries.

In the past, the state has paid to fight fires on its land, even if the land was within city boundaries. That has now changed, said Barbara Gardner of the state Division of Forestry, Fire, and State Lands in a recent meeting with the city.

"My mission today is to let Eagle Mountain know that it is their responsibility, and bills will come this way in the future," she said, noting there is no way to know in advance how much the cost might be.

In addition to specially trained teams of firefighters, the state may send in planes and helicopters to drop water, which can be expensive. A single tanker plane, for example, could cost $4,000 to $10,000 an hour.

"Right now we have no responsibility with the state or county to put a fire out in Eagle Mountain unless we are reimbursed," Gardner said. "I'm at a point where I don't know how the city wants to deal with fire suppression."

State law has always said that the state would only pay for fire fighting outside city limits, said Dick Buehler, area manager of the Division of Forestry, Fire, and State Lands, in an interview.

His agency had discussed shifting the costs to the city level before, but decided to seek guidance from the Utah Attorney General's Office before proceeding. When the attorney general agreed with the division's opinion, the state decided it would no longer pay for fire fighting within city boundaries.

The state would only fight a fire in Eagle Mountain's boundaries if the city asked, Buehler said.

"It kind of boggled our mind," said Eagle Mountain city administrator John Hendrickson, noting he has asked the city attorney to review the opinion of the state attorney general. "I don't know if we can protest or challenge this. We are looking into what it means."

Hendrickson said he hopes the Utah Legislature will act to reverse the law, but will wait until the city attorney reviews the state attorney general's opinion before approaching a legislator or possibly the Utah League of Cities and Towns to take action. He said there are hundreds, if not thousands, of acres of state school trust land within the city's boundaries that were annexed at the request of the state so the land can be sold and developed.

Eagle Mountain Fire Chief Rand Andrus said the new policy could force the city to let some fires burn unopposed.

"We will do everything we can to stop a fire," he said. "But literally we may have to weigh the cost of a grain field burning versus the cost of bringing in a plane."

Outside of Eagle Mountain, few if any cities around the state are affected by the decision, but as cities consider annexations, they should look to Eagle Mountain as a cautionary warning, Buehler said.

"As cities grow and their boundaries expand, we want to make sure cities understand what responsibility they assume when they incorporate this land," he said. "We are trying to be proactive to make sure people understand before they do it instead of finding out after the fact."

Saratoga Springs had been considering annexing some state school trust land but decided against it after discovering the city would have to pay for wildfire fighting on that land, he said.

Saratoga Springs Mayor Tim Parker confirmed that the city declined to annex state lands four or five years ago for that reason.

The city was "eager" to incorporate the land until they found out they would be liable for the cost of wildfires, he said.

Eagle Mountain should have an employee or representative "that we can get a hold of seven days a week, 24 hours a day" who can authorize the state to move in on a fire at the city's expense, Gardner said.

To help prevent fires, the city should pass an ordinance requiring homeowners abutting wildland to prune vegetation away from their homes, she said.

Eagle Mountain should also approach the state Legislature to see if the state will help the city pay for fighting wildfires on state land within city boundaries in case there is a catastrophic fire, she said.

Councilman Vincent Liddiard asked Gardner for her outlook on the fire season.

"I don't say because I'm always wrong," she said, noting hillsides seem to be drying out faster than normal this year.

Caleb Warnock can be reached at 443-3263 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it