‘The community needs it’ — Pine Valley residents celebrate July 4th despite losses from Forsyth Fire

PINE VALLEY, Utah (ABC4) — The community of Pine Valley had their annual Fourth of July celebration, something that was uncertain over the past few weeks after the community had to evacuate due to the Forsyth Fire.

Residents were only allowed to return to their homes on June 27, and over a dozen homes were destroyed. ABC4.com spoke to community leaders at the celebration about what it means for the community.

Bradley Root, Branch President of the Pine Valley Branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said that the last few weeks have been “totally unexpected.”

“It’s been a terrible tragedy, ’cause 13 homes were lost, and yet amazing, amazing miracles have happened, that it wasn’t 150 homes lost,” he said.

Susie McArthur and Mitzi Sullivan of the Pine Valley Activities Committee were also there. McArthur told ABC4.com that this celebration has been going on for years and people are used to attending, but this year, it was different.

Sullivan added that the chapel that has traditionally hosted the Fourth of July is going to be turned over to the historical society, so it might be the last Fourth of July celebration hosted there.

McArthur and Root both said that they were unsure if the event was going to happen.

“We were thinking about maybe cancelling the Fourth of July celebration, just because we didn’t know how many people would be here, and then we thought no, the community needs it,” Root said. “We need to get together and start this healing process, and look, it’s one of the biggest celebrations we’ve had.”

McArthur echoed those sentiments. She said that they didn’t even know until four days ago if the event was going to happen. “With the fires, it’s been hard this year. A lot of people have had word that there’s still smoke, they can’t get up the canyon.” She added that the community needed it.

The organizers are intimately familiar with the fire. Some had to evacuate, and Sullivan stated that a lot of the people on the committee organizing the celebration are firefighters and their families. “They fought fires all week, they fed firefighters, they worked, they supported, they did it all, and then they showed up to help us,” she explained.

McArthur recalled how her family had to evacuate their home. “We had it right at our back door. We loaded our whole house within probably two hours, and when you’re told by the police officer that comes in and says, ‘you have minutes, you have minutes to get out,’ what do you take?” She grew emotional. “But this is what’s important to us, is our community and our families.”

“We are sad for the firefighters that have lost their homes, and they’re here. They’re here helping. And that’s what it’s about for us,” McArthur added, explaining that two of the volunteer firefighters lost their homes.

“We meet here together as a community and friends. you can’t go ten feet without giving somebody a hug. There’s a lot of love. For the Fourth of July too, it’s a pretty patriotic town. We celebrate America’s birthday,” Sullivan said.

“I hope that we can do it again,” McArthur added, referring to the celebration.

“We just want to thank those firefighters who drew a line in the sand and did so much,” Root said.