A handwritten sign reading "Thank you for being our heroes" hangs on a barbed wire fence as smoke from the Rocky Canyon Fire rises in the distance. Photo: Utah Fire Info

PARK CITY, Utah — Park City residents will have an opportunity Wednesday morning to send a little encouragement to the firefighters and first responders working the ongoing Rocky Canyon fire in Summit and Morgan counties.

From 8 to 11 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 12, community members will find a table set up outside the MARC at 1200 Little Kate Road, with note cards, pens, and other supplies to write messages of encouragement to those working on the fire suppression efforts.

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The effort is being organized by Park City resident Michelle Rankin. During a recent Incident Command briefing, Rankin heard that community members had been asking how they could help and that handwritten notes could be included in lunch bags and food deliveries going out to fire crews.

For Rankin, it sounded like a simple but meaningful way to contribute.

“I’m like, OK, this could be easy,” Rankin said.

Rankin reached out to the Park City Municipal Athletic & Recreation Center and asked if she could set up a table where residents could write notes to firefighters and first responders. The MARC agreed, and Rankin got to work organizing the effort.

Rankin plans to collect the notes and take them to Coalville around 11:30 a.m., where they will be included with lunch bags being distributed to crews.

The effort is currently planned as a one-time event, and Rankin said she will stay at the table until 11 a.m. or until she runs out of supplies.

For Rankin, the goal is simply to give people a tangible way to show their support for the people working on the front lines.

“I think the number one people in our community that don’t get enough thanks are our firefighters,” Rankin said, also pointing to local law enforcement and other first responders working during the fires. “They need everything they can to be supported in this because at the end of the day they are the heroes without capes.”

Rankin said she knows not everyone can help crews directly, but a small gesture can still make a difference.

“If this is the only thing we can do, we can do something,” she said.

And for residents who want to participate, Rankin has tried to make that something as easy as possible.

“Everybody can help somehow,” she said.