As fire ripped through a building on State Street in Lindon Wednesday morning, destroying the store front, a warehouse and small home, fire crews from Orem, American Fork, Pleasant Grove and Provo responded to the massive blaze, in the latest example of multiple agencies working together during a crisis.

“What Utah County has — and what other places don’t — is that we come together as communities, and nobody questions whether they get paid or not paid or whether they shouldn’t go or should provide assistance,” said Kriss Garcia, American Fork Fire Chief, in an interview after the event. “If we need it, they would do the same for us.”

Chief Garcia comes from a background of a small fire department, in Tooele, where inter-agency help is a way of life, he said, a far cry from his experience at a major metropolitan department, in Salt Lake City.

The American Fork Fire and Rescue Department dispatched a ladder truck and an ambulance to Lindon on Wednesday, making a total of five crew members, a gesture not unnoticed by the city’s mayor.

“May I pass on my personal thank-you for the mutual aid you provided to Lindon this morning in response to our fire event,” wrote Lindon’s mayor Jim Dain to the mayors of American Fork, Provo and Pleasant Grove on Wednesday. “Please pass along my thanks to those firefighters who are willing to risk their lives to support disasters even outside their city limits. It is great to be a part of the camaraderie that exists between the Utah County cities.”

The camaraderie is actually a coordinated ballet among the Incident Command Center, North County Dispatch and the communities’ agencies. Dispatch, after the request was made from the Command Center, contacts the fire departments that are available to respond. The request can ask for a number of engines, ambulances or specific equipment.

It is one reason why an ambulance is always seen with a fire truck, even if only the ambulance is needed. If a fire breaks somewhere else, both the ambulance and fire truck can go together to the scene without having to stop at the station, located downtown American Fork. Besides, crew members on the fire truck usually assist with medical care.

“To expect two crew members, which is what the ambulance has, to be able to treat, care, pick up and carry anybody anywhere is just impossible,” Garcia said. “There’s just no way two people get somebody out of their living room safely into the back of an ambulance. That’s why we respond with five [crew members].”

Still, American Fork’s cost per call is the lowest among North County communities due to the high volume of calls. The net cost per call for American Fork’s department was $277 in 2012, according to a report by the city, compared to $1,193 in Pleasant Grove, $1,158 in Lehi and $2,432 in Lone Peak. But the high call volume also means American Fork is less available to help other communities if it wants to maintain short response time for its residents.

But it is not uncommon for any of the agencies in North Utah County to help other agencies on a weekly basis, Garcia said.

“There is no way that one department can have all the resources needed to face all the major incidents,” Garcia said. “So, when those happen, we all come together and accomplish some pretty amazing things.”

Danny Crivello can be reached at crivello@citizen.af, via text at 801-477-6397 or on Twitter.

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