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Mike Boone has been the sole mechanic for Park County Fire District No. 2 for the last 14 years.

Boone works the hydraulics on a fire truck. 

Mike Boone has been the sole mechanic for Park County Fire District No. 2 for the last 14 years.

Boone works the hydraulics on a fire truck. 

Fighting fires isn’t just about the people who drive the trucks – it’s also about the equipment that firefighters rely on.

For the last 14 years, that equipment has been maintained by Mike Boone, the Park County Fire District No. 2’s sole mechanic.

“I’ve always done mechanics,” said Boone. “I went to trade school in Arizona. Then I worked locally for dealerships – Graham Motors, Webster’s, my dad had Boone’s Machine Shop here in town.”

Boone pointed out that maintaining fire trucks is a little different than working on other large engines.

“There’s a lot more safety stuff with them,” he said. “You need to make sure that (the firefighters) can always do what they need to do. They have to be very dependable, and everything needs to be up to date.”

There are 22 fire trucks that are Boone’s responsibility – from Cody to Sunlight Basin to the North and South Fork stations, Boone is responsible for the maintenance of all of them, plus other equipment, such as chainsaws and other small machinery.

“He also calibrates all of our air packs, annually,” said Jerry Parker, fire district administrator. “He makes sure that they are operating properly. He oversees the testing of our ladder truck. He organizes, and does a lot of research on equipment to stay on top of stuff.”

And while most of Boone’s work happens between fires, from time to time he gets called out during actual incidents.

“When we had the Whit Fire up the North Fork, one of the engines got a flat tire and Mike grabbed the spare and had them back in service within probably a half an hour,” Parker explained. “And during the Hunter Peak Fire, our Engine One had a turbo-intake hose blow off. Mike was down here till three in the morning replacing it.”

Boone said he also does support runs during fires.

“If they need gas, or I’ll get food or drinks, anything they need, if they need help,” he said.

Parker pointed out that what Boone does is absolutely necessary for the department to function properly.

“Being a fire department, we need these trucks to work properly, be dependable 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year,” he said. “Mike keeps them going so that when (the firefighters) get called, they know that they have what they need.”

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