For 31 years South Davis Metro Fire Chief Dane Stone has been in the fire service. Stone is retiring Sept. 12 and once he leaves the station, when a call comes in he won’t be the one to answer it. It will be a little bitter sweet after spending so many years dedicated to serving the community but he’s also excited for the next step.

“I’m trying to wrap my head around it,” Stone said. “It’s kind of surreal. This is by far one of the best departments in the state. These are good people and It’s been great to be associated with them.”

Stone became interested in the career in 1992 when he completed EMT training while he was at Weber State studying criminal justice. “When I got done with EMT training I wanted to find somewhere I could use it,” he said. “I got a job out at Rocky Mountain Raceway. It’s the Bonneville race track now. I got a job out there and then South Davis Fire District was looking to hire firefighters that were in college.”

They would give you a bedroom, he said. “Well I guess it wasn’t a room, it was just a bed with a partition between it. So a free room if you’re going to college so that they could staff the stations at night time because they were shutting the stations down at midnight.”

Originally, Stone had been planning on going into the secret service. “I didn’t get a job right off the bat with them so I was still working for the fire department.”

In 1998, Stone took a full-time position with South Davis. “That was over in the North Salt Lake Fire Station 82. That’s when I got an offer from them (secret service). I tested with them in 1997 and it took me about a year and a half to go through all that process and then I turned it down to stay full time with the fire department which was the best move I ever made.”

At the time it was the most beneficial with a family, he said. “I knew with the secret service I’d be gone a lot. My wife was pregnant and I knew that wasn’t going to work.”

In 2005, South Davis Fire District and the Bountiful City Fire Department merged, said Stone. “At the time the Davis County Sheriff’s Office held the paramedic service for our area. When we merged the two departments, we took the paramedic program.”

When they merged, Stone became a captain. “I was a lieutenant and when we merged they made all of the lieutenants captains. In 2007 I was promoted to Battalion Chief. In 2011 I became a Deputy Chief and then in 2020 that’s when I became the Fire Chief.”

Stone said becoming chief has been a challenge. “You know I was a Deputy Chief for nine years. I worked under two different Fire Chiefs, Chief Rampton and Chief Bassett. Both had two different styles of leadership. I was never one to want to be the Fire Chief. That wasn’t something that I was like, yeah that’s what I’m angling for. That was never my goal.”

It’s a tough position, he said. “It’s very political, especially in our makeup of five cities and the county who make up our Board of Trustees. So each mayor of the cities we protect plus a county commissioner are my bosses. So the politics of the job are probably bigger than most. Most fire chief positions just have to deal with one city and one city mayor. So that was a challenge.”

As a firefighter he went out on the calls, but now as Chief, he’s concerned about whether his crew is safe. “I’m wondering if a firefighter is going to get hurt or killed. Are we going to lose or have a citizen get hurt or killed? The whole dynamic changes.”

In 31 years, Stone has gone out on some tough calls. “One of the first calls I had was a wreck on I-15,” he said. “A girl lost her life in the crash. She was about the same age as my wife when we were dating and she was driving a white car like hers. It made me realize that life is pretty fragile. Just 10 minutes earlier she was driving.”

Another incident that stands out is the Gun Range fire in Bountiful, Stone said. “That was one of the most unforgettable fires I've ever been a part of. Watching the firefighters from South Davis Metro and all the other agencies that responded was incredible. I was there when we lost the homes, and I will never forget the feeling of helplessness in the face of such powerful wind and fire.”

It’s an honor to do this job, he said. “People call at the worst time of their life. When we show up they’re happy to see you. We always try to make it better. We’re not always able to but we’ll do everything in our power to do it.”

It’s been an honor and a pleasure to lead this department, he said. “I do it because I can’t think of a better way to spend my life.”