Tooele County Fire Department seeking volunteers amid busy wildfire season

Tooele County Fire Department is asking more people to step forward as volunteer firefighters, saying its existing crews are being stretched by an unusually active wildfire season and a vast service area. During 2News LIVE at 3:30, Deputy Chief of Operations Joey Garboski said the department has less than two dozen active volunteers. “So we would like a healthy number of around 50, but currently we’re at about 20 active volunteers,” Garboski said. Latest wildfire data provided by the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands shows more than 1,000 wildfire ignitions in Utah so far in 2026. Tooele County Fire Department volunteers help cover much of Tooele County’s more than 7,000 square miles, much of it unincorporated land. Garboski said another six to eight municipal volunteer departments in the county also rely on their own volunteers.

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