Price City Fire Department was eager to come in and speak about this year’s firework season and about the house fire on the evening of July 24. Castle Country Radio sat down with Fire Chief Fitzgerald Peterson to get all the details.

“I’m the first one to admit I got a bias towards fireworks. I was a paramedic for 30 years and a 32-year firefighter. I know that one year we restricted fireworks but this year we didn’t restrict them at all because of the green that we had and the weather and the humidity, so there was a little bit of risk in that. But my gosh, the citizens of this region just took care of everything. It wasn’t a smaller amount of fireworks, that’s for sure, but boy, they were great as far as being safe,” said Chief Peterson. There was one small fire started in a field, but by the time the fire department showed up it had been put out by the reporting party and police officer who responded.

The Fire Department wanted to address the fire that took place on Rose Avenue on the evening of July 24. “It was one of those unique situations where there was no wind, and so there was a column of smoke, straight up, and it was like a beacon. So many people, I haven’t seen that in Price, I’ve seen it in the city, but so many people had drove or driven down there to see what they could see. They saw the smoke, but instead of reading about it or waiting to hear about it, they would drive down there. It created some traffic problems, and in my opinion, safety problems for my firefighters,” stated Chief Peterson. The extra traffic in the area made it very difficult for firefighters and emergency personnel to get near the fire to offer assistance.

Thankfully the fire did not have any injuries or loss of life. “The best thing that I can hear from a police officer was said to me, this is the homeowner, he’s right here, and there is no one in that house, and it was free burning. It was fully involved, that’s the phrase we use. But the homeowner was right in front of me, doesn’t clear the place from danger, but it changes my tactics. So I’m going to keep these firefighters because I had three cities there, several firefighters, and they are going to be safe for now because of it,” stated Chief Peterson. It important that citizens steer clear from areas where emergency personnel are trying to work a fire or any emergency situation. Price City Fire appreciates the assistance given by Wellington and Helper Fire Departments.

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