KAYSVILLE, Utah (ABC4) – Kaysville Fire Department wants to make sure the citizens of Kaysville are informed. They also want to make sure they get a good chuckle. While their Public Information Officer (PIO) has become as legendary as Sasquatch, he really does exist and is churning out tons of content for Kaysville residents to get insight from.
Kaysville Fire Engineer Cameron McKinnon works as the department’s PIO and judging by the 18 thousand followers the department has on Facebook, alone, he is making an impact with how he gets his message across.
Many people looking to promote themselves, their business, or their product can attribute their success to their social media presence. Over the last few years, public agencies have taken to Facebook and Instagram to disseminate information to residents of communities. Residents can get alerts on local events, traffic, weather, and fire/police activity to name a few.
McKinnon has been with Kaysville Fire for 13 years. In 2017, he approached his then-fire chief about the lack of social media presence and was given the green light to get started and has been at it ever since.
He always peppers his articles with humor when appropriate. During summer, he reminded his readers to stay hydrated while out recreating in hot Utah temps while educating them on Bigfoot lore and shark facts.
In April he made sure to give do’s and don’ts during snow episodes: Don’t: Drive your car in this snow like you’ve got $80 worth of Kohl’s Cash about to expire and you’ve got to get there to buy clothing you’ll never wear before the Cash is gone.
Do: Shovel the snow around your neighborhood fire hydrants so that we can extinguish your kitchen fire after your MeeMaw Margie who hasn’t been authorized to cook since the Thanksgiving Inferno of ’04 tries to take a stab at sweet potato casserole again.
#HelpUsHelpYou#ClearYourHydrants#MargieCantStopWontStop#KohlsCashIsCurrentlyTheMostValuableCurrencyInTheWorld
Kaysville Fire Department Facebook Account
He has no formal writing training but says he has always enjoyed creative writing.
“I am by nature a very sarcastic and lighthearted person, so I think my mix of humor met my creative writing, and the topics just seem to write themselves from there,” said McKinnon. “I incorporate my own real-life experiences – the things I find comical in my everyday life – into my writing and I’ve found it resonates with a lot of people.”
He says his humorous approach is part of his posts’ secret to success.
“I follow a lot of other local government, fire, police, and emergency services on social media and I have found so many of their posts boring and not engaging. I knew if I felt this way, everyone else probably did too, which meant they were scrolling on rather than reading the message in the post,” McKinnon relates. “So rather than follow the same formula, I went the humor route to share safety messages and it has worked incredibly well. Ultimately that’s the goal – to make the messages sink in and have people make safer choices in their homes and in their lives.”
The KFD Facebook posts earn loads of comments. So often readers respond with how much they love the humor and how they followed the advice and put into practice the things McKinnon shares. He has posts on driving safety, fire extinguisher use, firework use, grilling tips, and so much more. Along with the humorous posts, he highlights serious topics as well as posts about the department spreading goodwill in the community.
Facebook responses to various posts:
“This account is pure gold. KFD can put out fires with wits alone.” J. Luther
“Whoever is in charge of your social media is awesome! Great entertainment with important Fire Safety info for your community!” G. Bell
“I just love you guys! You are hilarious. Thanks for making my week !!!” K. Murdock
“Love the humor from folks who have some serious business they regularly have to attend to.” E. Williams
“Kaysville Fire Department From a non-Utahn who visits sometimes & has family there, this is possibly the best post ever.” D. Parker
“Nice to see your post. I’ve missed your helpful but disturbingly weird posts. Have a safe and hopefully quiet holiday.” D. Gerber
“My dream is to someday meet whoever writes these and shake their hand. Hopefully they’re not named McKenzlie.” W. Fayles
“This is amazing!!! Thanks for all the laughs this morning. I went to my local UFD’s page to follow but it’s far less entertaining and engaging than Kaysville’s! Maybe Cameron can “light a fire” under the other Departments and encourage them to follow his lead to get some more engagement from their local communities. Kudos to you all and thank you for all you do!!!” E. Salti
Kaysville Fire Department Facebook Page
McKinnon does love his PIO job with the department but admits at the heart of it all he is a firefighter first and foremost.
“Being a firefighter really is the best job in the world. We help people in very unique ways, often during the worst moments of their life, and it brings a satisfaction that I haven’t felt from any other job,” McKinnon said. “About 70% of the calls we respond to are emergency medical in nature and being part of a ‘save’ during a critical medical emergency is awesome, especially when you know it means someone will get to return home to their families and continue to live a full and healthy life because of the actions that our crews take.”
McKinnon grew up in Kaysville and graduated from Davis High School. He is proud to say he has spent his career serving the community he loves. His relationship with his fellow first responders is that of family and it shows when he posts about them in his humorous way. He is currently pursuing a degree in Emergency Management from Utah Valley University.
