Wilkeson Eagles hand off brand-new utility vehicle to Buckley Fire Department

For these firefighters, it may as well have been Christmas morning in Wilkeson.

On Saturday, the hot shots and EMTs of the Buckley Fire Department officially received a brand new side-by-side utility task vehicle, loaded out with axes, skids, a water hose and other bells and whistles, all to the tune of nearly $50,000.

The department didn’t pay for it, and neither did taxpayers. The vehicle and its equipment was paid for and constructed thanks to the Wilkeson community and a fundraising effort led by the Wilkeson Eagles club.

Assistant Fire Chief Johan Olson accepted the donation at a gathering with the department and the public at the Eagles hall.

As the UTV made its grand appearance — lights flashing off of its cherry red exterior — the crowd responded with woops and cheers.

It didn’t take long for the firefighters to hop in and test the UTV’s capabilities, including spraying Olson with the vehicle’s attached hose.

Assistant Chief Johan Olson gets splashed by a fellow firefighter using the new UTV’s water hose.

The Buckley Fire Department is almost entirely made up of volunteers, and is currently a fairly young department. Several of the current crew just graduated from the department’s training academy and took their oath of office this year. Those who want to drive the machine themselves, however, will need to take special training from the department.

Eagles member Jim Chesley, who helped steward the efforts to get the UTV, has seen the vehicle’s build progress from the beginning.

And “I’m going to tell you,” Chesley said: “I think it’s a pretty badass looking machine.”

The UTV, or “side-by-side,” is sort of like a beefier ATV, and is so named because of the vehicle’s ability to seat two or more riders next to each other. It will allow firefighters to access hard-to-reach grass and brush fires that regular fire equipment can’t reach. That includes sections of the Foothills Trail, chief Eric Skogen said, and wilderness nearby it.

The vehicle will also be crucial for trail rescues in the upper Carbon River and White River valleys, where hikers can become stranded. When possible, emergency medical staff could use the side-by-side to quickly reach and assist those hikers.

When speed is a factor — as it often is in the business — firefighters can also toss the UTV on a trailer and hook it up to a faster piece of firefighting equipment, like a pickup, which can deliver the side-by-side directly where it’s needed. The Eagles’ donation included a trailer attachment for that very purpose.

Firefighters check out the new side-by-side at its unveiling in Wilkeson. Photo by Alex Bruell

When a couple of small but hard-to-reach brush fires hit Carbonado last year, local residents offered firefighters the use of their vehicles to access and attack the flames.

“(The fire) was threatening to get down into town,” Chesley said. “The chief knew I knew the ground well, so he called me. Well, I went and grabbed a side-by-side and started hauling them. A couple other guys grabbed their quads and ATVs and started helping, and it worked really well. … After all that was over, I started thinking: ‘Why doesn’t the fire department have one of these?’”

The firefighters had seen the value a nimble but tough off-road vehicle could bring, Buckley Fire Chief Erik Skogen said, and the Wilkeson Eagles offered to host a fundraiser to buy and outfit a side-by-side for the department.

“The department could never have done this on their own,” said Rick Haulet, who is both a Buckley firefighter and Eagles member. “It would have required grant funding, approval, this-and-that, and that’s why we took it on our own. … Without the community and businesses, this couldn’t have happened.”

Members of the Buckley Fire Department and Wilkeson community pose for a group photo with the new side-by-side.

The Eagles’ efforts culminated with a silent and live dinner auction in November. Their goal was $35,000, but their efforts raised a little over $49,000, Chesley said, which allowed them to kit out the UTV with extras like two skids, the hauling trailer, powersaws and other gear. No taxpayer dollars were used to buy, assemble or outfit the side-by-side or its accessories, and several locals volunteered their time and skills in outfitting it, Skogen and the Eagles said.

The total amount raised “blew us away,” Chesley said.

“The community really came together,” Chesley said. “There was absolutely phenomenal turnout … everything from companies donating thousands of dollars to bartenders donating their tips. Just overwhelming community support.”

“This is a big deal for us,” said Chief Skogen, who was out of town, in an email. “We are grateful for the Wilkeson Eagles service to our community and humbled by the overwhelming community support of all of the donors, sponsors, auction bidders and the volunteers that took part in building a multipurpose vehicle that is truly one of a kind on the plateau. It will allow us to provide a new level of service that we otherwise would not be able to fund without placing a burden on the taxpayers.”