Editor’s note: As 2025 winds down, the Ogden Standard-Examiner is taking a look back at the year that was for the region. Today we present the third of four stories recounting the Top 5 stories in Major Events, Entertainment & Culture, Government and Local First Responders recounting some of the greatest highs and most devastating lows of an unforgettable year. 

OGDEN — The region’s first responders were at the forefront of a busy 2025.

In their pursuit of keeping the public safe, police, fire, EMTs and others saw a year of untold tragedy. But 2025 was also a time to celebrate those who have dedicated so much time to public safety and a spirit of innovation in the field that have made the greater Ogden area a safer place for all.

‘A terrible and tragic night’

Rob Nielsen, Standard-Examiner

Northern Utah received a brutal reminder of the dangers of police work on Aug. 17.

On this day, two officers from the Tremonton-Garland Police Department — Sgt. Lee Sorensen and Officer Eric Estrada — were fatally shot while responding to a domestic incident in Tremonton. A Box Elder County Sheriff’s deputy and police service dog were also shot and wounded during the incident.

“A terrible and tragic night,” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox wrote on X following the shooting. “Abby and I join the entire state in mourning the loss of these courageous law enforcement officers. Our support and prayers go out to their families and fellow officers. May God bless all those who put themselves in harm’s way to keep us safe.”

Ryan Michael Bate is facing 20 charges in total related to the shooting, including two counts of aggravated murder, a capital offense; four counts of attempted aggravated murder, a first-degree felony; one count of endangerment of a police service K-9, a third-degree felony; three counts of possession of an incendiary device, a second-degree felony; two counts of possession of a dangerous weapon with criminal intent, a class A misdemeanor; three counts of assault, a class A misdemeanor; one count of unlawful detention, a class A misdemeanor; one count of threat of violence, a class A misdemeanor and three counts of domestic violence in the presence of a child, a class B misdemeanor. He faces the death penalty.

The year of fire

Photos supplied, Utah Department of Public Safety

The Ogden area had several dramatic fires in 2025.

In January, a fire destroyed an apartment complex that was under construction near downtown Ogden. Within days of a the blaze, a 16-year-old male was arrested for arson in connection with it.

Ogden Mayor Ben Nadolski dedicated a portion of his State of the City address the following week to highlight the work of the Ogden City Fire Department in tackling the fire.

“As we watched them surround that fire and put it out, they kept it from burning down our downtown,” he said during his speech. “They are as good as it gets, and that is why the state of this city is strong.”

However, the year was only just beginning. There were several more significant fires, including a grass fire caused by illegally-discharged fireworks that displaced a family and another major apartment construction site fire in August that is still being investigated.

Rob Nielsen, Standard-Examiner

One of the most dramatic fires came in August when a car fire in North Ogden spread to nearby brush, igniting the Willard Peak Fire. The fire burned 577 acres, threatened neighborhoods and prompted days-long evacuations, but in the end, no lives were lost and no major property losses were reported.

A week at Ben Lomond

Over the course of a week in October, students at Ben Lomond High School found themselves at the center of two horrifying events.

On Oct. 2, Ben Lomond High School was totally evacuated due to a bomb threat that was called in to the Weber County Dispatch Center. The threat was seen as credible enough to move students away from the campus while a search was conducted. Police combed the school and ultimately found no explosive devices. The following week, a juvenile in Washington state was detained in connection with the threat.

The same day the arrest was made in the bomb threat, a 16-year-old Ben Lomond High School student was shot near the school. The teen returned to the school seeking help but ultimately succumbed to his injuries. Two teens have been arrested in connection with the shooting.

Rob Nielsen, Standard-Examiner

‘The Gardener’

It was a year of transition for the Ogden City Fire Department.

After nearly four decades as a first responder — 30 of which were serving as Ogden’s Fire Chief — Mike Mathieu announced he would be retiring in June.

“I’m kind of like a gardener,” he told the Standard-Examiner in July. “Plant some seeds, throw out some water, put out some fertilizer, pull a few weeds every once in a while and let the garden grow so people can admire it. What I mean by that is provide an environment for people that have self-initiative, that want to be successful, that want to work hard and want to hone their responsibility and be accountable; they get the opportunity to develop themselves in an environment where it’s conducive to do that, and it’s fair and equal to everyone in the fire department.”

During his tenure, Mathieu had a hand in several fire department actions, including development of the Ogden Public Safety Building, developing the city’s negligently caused fire ordinance in 2003, developing a protocol for response in the face of the 2001 anthrax attacks, boosting carbon monoxide detector use in Ogden and helping develop standards for medical cannabis use by firefighters. Within the department, he helped create minimum fitness standards for the city’s firefighters, pioneered the department’s homeless medical advocate position and helped secure grants and funding for several equipment purchases and infrastructure projects.

Mathieu was succeeded by Michael Slater as Fire Chief.

Trail blazing

The Ogden City Fire Department put itself on the forefront of serving an underserved population in 2025.

This year, the department announced the formation of a homeless medical advocate position within the department.

“Our lead homeless services advocate, Anna Davidson, educated us on the importance of meeting the unsheltered where they are,” Mathieu said when the position was announced in January. “Unlike most individuals who can schedule appointments and attend them reliably, the unsheltered face complex barriers such as lack of housing, transportation and basic resources. This new approach seeks to bridge those gaps and provide care tailored to their realities.”

Angelina Watkins was tapped to serve as the department’s first homeless medical advocate, one of the first such positions formed in the state, where she would take up an office at the Lantern House to help assess medical issues with the population.

“A lot of them will call 911 just for basic needs because they don’t have a car. They don’t have a bus pass. They’re not going to walk up to McKay-Dee or Ogden Regional,” she told the Standard-Examiner in October. “Say they have a bad ulcer on their leg. They need to get it taken care of but they have no way to the hospital, so they would call 911 for that. So now, they all know me and they all know what I do and they all know what I’m capable of. They come to me, I will patch their leg up, I’ll do basic wound care on a day-to-day basis for them changing bandages and whatnot. A lot of what I do is preventative.”

Slater told the Standard-Examiner in October that this is the first such position in a municipal fire department in the state of Utah.

“Every city that has a shelter has some kind of approach to homelessness,” he said. “The key to success for us was we wanted to meet them where they are. You look at Salt Lake where they’ve got the Fourth Street Clinic and the homeless can come to the clinic and they can see a physician or a nurse. Not a lot of places have the ability to insert the fire department inside of the homeless center, which is what we’ve done.”

Since then, the department has onboarded a second homeless medical advocate and has also looked to invest in a mobile clinic to help serve the city’s unhoused population.