Rows and rows of tents crowd in next to a soccer goal at Enterprise’s city park. This is where some of the nearly 700 firefighters sleep after another day of battling the Forsyth Fire.
When the fire in the nearby Pine Valley Mountains broke out in mid-June, the 2,000 residents of this southern Utah town didn’t have much time to adjust.
“We went from being nothing here to being fully equipped and fully staffed in a six-to-eight hour period,” Enterprise Mayor Brandon Humphries said. “So, it was a pretty dramatic and drastic change to our community.”
The biggest change has been the morning line-up of vehicles on the one road out of town as personnel drive to the fire.
“It impacted our traffic significantly,” he said. “Rush hour takes on a whole new meaning.”
There have been longer lines at the coffee shop, too. The town’s only grocery store has been packed, he said, and has run out of some items faster than the delivery trucks can keep it stocked.
The scene in Enterprise illustrates what it takes to stage a massive wildfire response in a remote, rural area.
In the parking lot next to the field of tents, several semi-trucks and large trailers provide mobile showers, sinks and even a washing machine. There are more tents pitched around the town’s high school and fire department.
Inside the school, a catering company serves hot meals to fire personnel each night, with food that’s trucked in. The firefighters can grab sack lunches and water bottles on the road in front of the school in the morning.
Just about every nook and cranny becomes a parking space at night, Humphries said. The town is figuring out how best to host its Independence Day celebration in the park with the tents this weekend, too.
“We're trying to co-exist,” Humphries said with a chuckle.
Adding 700 people to such a small community has certainly been noticeable, said resident Carie Kounalis. But a little extra traffic or a crowd at the grocery store is a small price to pay.
“Enterprise is very supportive of everything,” she said. “I've played pickleball with the fire crew a few times, so that's been really fun.”
This is not the first time Enterprise has been the staging ground for a big fire response. The Flatt Fire in 2021 brought a similarly sized crew to town, Humphries said.
Depending on the weather and the needs of other fires across the West, he estimates the crews may stay in town for another two weeks.
In a dry, mountainous area like this, wildfires and firefighting personnel come with the territory. Jadie Hunt remembers having to evacuate her home in Enterprise for the Flatt Fire.
“So we're really, really sympathetic towards the residents of Pine Valley,” she said. “You never know when you're going to be next.”
