When Giles started as a volunteer firefighter in Wasatch County, he was only the 17th person to join. Since then, the fire service has grown and evolved under his leadership.
“A lot of things happened in my career, for sure,” Giles says. “It's been a struggle in a job that actually was very rewarding. I mean, not many chiefs get to do and see what I've done in their careers.”
Along with moving from a volunteer to full-time professional agency, that evolution includes adding emergency medical services to the district’s responsibilities.
On Sunday, Giles will say goodbye to 46 full-time employees, whom he commends for their professionalism and dedication.
“Lots of great men in that department, and women, I'll tell you,” he says. “It's been a pleasure to hire a lot of these individuals and see different walks of life that they came from, so it's been very rewarding.”
He says during all his years, no one ever died in a fire on his watch.
But the emergencies he and his firefighters responded to were countless in number and varied from wildland to structure calls to car accidents and other varieties too numerous to detail. Even when he’s no longer with the district, he says he’ll carry those experiences with him.
“Some of them you don't like to think about, some are very sad, you know, [like] those explosions we had in Timberlake with that lady trapped,” he says. “Been a lot of them in automobile accidents that we have to extricate, and those are the ones that you want to not remember, I guess, but you never get them out of your mind. It’s something that you have to deal with.”
He thanked the Wasatch County Fire Board of Directors for its support over the years. He also acknowledged Wasatch County residents.
“I would just like to thank the taxpayers of the community in the county for supporting myself and the fire district in the growth that we have encompassed over the last 20 years,” he says. “It has been very helpful, and [I’m] thankful to them that they have supported us because without them, we wouldn't be able to have the equipment we have, or the manpower that we have. It’s been a great career, and I really appreciate everything that everybody's done for me in support.”
Giles warns that regionally, brush fires are already breaking out in “very, very dry conditions” and urged people to be safe in the months to come. With reservoirs low, he said to watch for an early fire ban.
In retirement, he says he’s looking forward to spending time on his farm and tending to his 60 cows.
A search is underway for a new chief. In the meantime, Deputy Chief Eric Hales will take over as interim. Giles says whether the next chief comes from within the department or elsewhere, the public will be in good hands.
