OGDEN, Utah — It has been a tough fire season here in Utah. Many firefighters have sacrificed so much to be on the front lines to keep us safe. But it’s also tough on their families.
A viewer reached out to FOX 13, asking us to look into how these families are doing, especially this year.
The Hyland family loves playing board games. It’s something they do all the time, but one player is missing.
"I was excited for him,” said Kim Hyland. “When you see your husband doing something that he loves, it’s like a kid at Christmas.”
Kim's husband, Ryan, is keeping Utah safe. When Kim and Ryan started dating, Ryan was a wildland firefighter.
"It was a little crazy, that’s why I told him, I was like, 'I’d like you to switch to structure, if we're going to have a family,'” said Kim.
They have been married 15 years. Ryan is now a firefighter with the Ogden City Fire Department. But this year, they started a wildland program to help fight wildfires.
"He's been on probably about 5-6 fires already since June,” she said.
Between his full-time job fighting fire in Ogden and deploying to wildfires, Kim said he has been at home for about 10 days this summer.
Ryan is now working the Rocky Canyon Fire. For Kim, she's taking a chance, hoping her husband comes home safe.
"It’s still hard, the unpredictability of it, and never knowing where he's going to be. But he just loves doing it, so how can you say no?" she said.
She is balancing life with her three boys at home. They hope dad is back in time to take them to school on their first day.
"A lot of the times, I play mom and dad,” said Hyland. “Because I have to fill in that disciplinary role, or I have to do the different things that he would normally do when he’s home,” she said.
Even though they've grown up watching dad fight fires, this is different.
"He might not call tonight to say goodnight because when he’s at the station he calls every night to say good night to the boys one on one,” she said.
Paul Mecham is a volunteer firefighter in Salina. He's seen how difficult it's been for his family every time he responds to any call — not just wildfires.
"I think it's harder on the families than it is the firefighters,” Mecham said. “We love what we do, when we see other communities in need, we want to go out and serve them. If we're out there all night, we're up there busy, and we're not thinking about it, but the families at home thinking about it.”
For Kim, it's like she’s dating her husband all over again.
"He's like, it’s fun, because when he does come home, there's things to talk about,” she said.
