Dozens of Park City residents gathered on Wednesday morning to write letters thanking firefighters and first responders for their efforts to contain the Rocky Canyon Fire near Henefer. “I’ve been listening to some of the updates from the incident command on the local news, and one of the que stions asked by a reporter was, ‘What can the community do to help out at this time?’” said Michelle Rankin, a Park City resident who organized the event. “The commander mentioned notes, letters, things they can put in meal bags that are delivered to the first responders, and I just thought, ‘Well, that’s easy. We can do that.’” Rankin called the Park City Council to help spread the word, and the Park City Municipal and Athletic Recreation Center gave her permission to set up a table in front of the building. With cards, stickers and markers in hand, Rankin asked each PC MARC patron if they’d be willing to write a note of appreciation for local firefighters. “Many people have left their phone numbers and their names and said, ‘Let us know if something comes up and you do this again or if there’s another need,’” Rankin said. “It’s really pulling people together, and I love it. In Summit County, we know our firefighters and our Sheriff’s Office, and we want to show our neighboring towns and counties that we’re here.” Stickers and colorful markers decorated a majority of the letters distributed to firefighters on Wednesday. Organizer Michelle Rankin joked that adults were more excited about the stickers than kids were. Credit: Petr Herink/The Park Record Rankin had the station set up from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m., and she estimated dozens if not hundreds of people had written cards in those three hours. She said the outpouring of love and support is a sign that Park City and Summit County have strong, passionate communities. “It’s kindness, it’s love and it’s compassion,” Rankin said. “This is a place where I think people think about others first, so people want to come together and do something.” Halie Allphan, who participated in the campaign, said she wanted to write a letter on behalf of her coworker whose brother is a firefighter responding to the incident. “She was telling me about the stuff that they were having to do, like being out on a bulldozer right next to the planes,” Allphan said. “It’s just terrifying, and they’re very selfless.” Kathy DeRue, another Park City resident who stopped to write a letter, called the Rocky Canyon Fire a “tragedy,” but she praised the Summit County community for supporting each other, especially displaced Henefer residents. “They just want to help their neighbors, which has been, in some ways, a silver lining coming out of the tragedy of the fires this summer, not just in Summit County but across Utah,” DeRue said. “It’s been a hard summer here, but we’ve really seen some good come out of it. I think that’s been an inspirational lesson for us all.” The Rocky Canyon Fire is 25% contained and stretches more than 15,300 acres as of Wednesday morning, according to Utah Fire Info. Officials said they’re hopeful that an increase in humidity and cloud cover will help firefighters curtail the blaze. Organizer Michelle Rankin estimated dozens if not hundreds of people stopped to write first responders a letter. The letters were delivered to a fire station in Henefer for distribution during firefighters’ lunch break. Credit: Petr Herink/The Park Record The post Parkites write letters of support to first responders fighting the Rocky Canyon Fire appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less