The City received this wonderful letter and pictures back after we gifted them with a special custom glass float to thank them on the first anniversary of their first responder response to the Echo Mountain Complex Fire last September.

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“On behalf of the Idaho Falls Fire Department, we want to thank you for your kind letter and beautiful gift!

During a time when calls are increasing and we are experiencing unprecedented population growth, COVID is once again spiking, and we continue to deploy on wildfires in the western United States, receiving your letter and gift in the mail was a welcomed and much appreciated surprise that brought smiles to faces. The letter was shared with department leadership, our four firefighters who were deployed, as well as with Idaho Falls Mayor Rebecca Casper and City Council.

As your community continues to recover from the devastating fire, please know that you are in our thoughts.  It was an honor to be called upon to serve your community alongside other fellow brothers and sisters in the fire service. Please share our appreciation with your city leadership, fire department, and the very talented artist Kelly Howard.  (On a personal note, I will be in Lincoln City next spring and have added a stop in her studio to my agenda.) 

Attached is a photo taken of two of the four firefighters who were deployed to the Echo Mountain Complex Fire (Captain Kirby Dennert and Firefighter Brandon Moncur). Ironically, the other two (FF Collin Jensen and FF Sean Allen) left for another wildland fire deployment just prior to my scheduled meeting with them to take their photo this morning.”