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Lone Peak fire chief moves on August 10, 2017, 6:56 amFreeman began his career in 1984 as a volunteer firefighter for Murray City Fire Department. He was promoted to a full-time firefighter/EMT within a year. While still working for Murray FD, Freeman moved to Alpine and began working as a firefighter there. He continued there until 1996 when the Alpine/Highland Public Safety District was formed. In July 1998 the Fire and EMS departments were combined under one leadership. Freeman and several others worked to bring about the Alpine/Highland Public Safety District which was formed in 1996 and which later became the Lone Peak Public Safety District combining fire and police services in one organization. Freeman was hired as the first part-time EMS director. In 2008 he left Murray City FD when he was promoted to Deputy Chief of EMS for LPFD. In 2011 he was promoted to the position of fire chief. Officials in Alpine and Cedar Hills paid tribute to Freeman in recent meetings and presented him with tokens of their appreciation. On June 27, Alpine Mayor Sheldon Wimmer said he was sad to see Freeman retire and thanked Freeman for his work on putting together and leading the Lone Peak Public Safety District. On Aug. 1 in Cedar Hills Mayor Gary Gygi and members of the city council spoke warmly of Freeman. "In my six years that I've been here I've had the extreme pleasure to interact with a really good fire chief in Brad Freeman," Gygi said. "Cedar Hills City will miss you; Lone Peak Public Safety District will miss you." Gygi told Freeman, "You were such an outstanding chief and leaders for our area … and I'm not sure if the area knows how much of a loss this is." In his remarks at Cedar Hills on Aug. 1, Freeman somewhat obliquely referred to what he called "bad press" the LPFD had received in recent months. While it is unclear exactly what Freeman was referring to, it may have been the results of a Fire/EMS Department Metric Study conducted by Brad Wardle, with Heart of the Matter Solutions and presented to city officials of Alpine, Highland and Cedar Hills in January. While he had high praise for LPFD, Wardle expressed concern that the LPFD was severely understaffed. At the time, Freeman said he was making it his top priority to change that. "After 33 years, it's kind of like Jerry Sloan: when it's not fun anymore to come to work anymore, it's probably time to go do something else," he said of his decision to retire. "We have the greatest employees that you'll ever find, he said. They put in so many hours without being paid. By far and away, they are an excellent group of people, " he said. Freeman resigned from his position effective July 1. He and his family have since moved to Hurricane. Currently, Lone Peak Police Chief Brian Gwilliam is filling both his position and the job of fire chief while a new chief is found. The community news source for Eagle Mountain Utah, Saratoga Springs Utah, Lehi Utah, American Fork Utah, Highland Utah, Alpine Utah, and The Cedar Valley, including Cedar Fort Utah and Fairfield Utah. Copyright 2025 The Crossroads Journal LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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