Biographical Info
Age: 33
Additional Info: Spencer Koyle is survived by his wife and three children.
Incident Details
Cause of Death: Koyle died from injuries sustained while battling a wildfire.
Date of Incident: August 17, 2006
Copyright 2006 The Deseret News Publishing Co.
Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City)
August 18, 2006 Friday
3167 words
Firefighter killed in Devil’s Den fire identified
Ben Winslow
Deseret Morning News
Spencer Koyle, 33, died Thursday, while fighting
a 250-acre wildfire, about 130 miles south of Salt
Lake City, after getting trapped as shifting winds
suddenly fueled a furious wildfire.
(AP Photo/Utah Bureau of Land Management)
Authorities have identified a firefighter who died while battling a wildfire burning near Oak City.
Millard County Sheriff Robert Dekker said Spencer Stanley Koyle, 33, died while working the Devil’s Den Fire, burning about three miles east of Oak City.
“They were working to keep the fire from coming into the town of Oak City. It appears the wind shifted and changed the direction and intensity of the fire,” Dekker said in a statement released this morning. “Lookouts from the team ordered everyone out. Koyle attempted to evacuate but was overtaken by the fire.”
Dekker said Koyle lived in the town of Holden. He leaves behind a wife and three children.
Interagency fire officials in Richfield said Koyle’s death is under investigation. Approximately 30 firefighters who were on the scene with Koyle have been sent home, said Davida Carnahan with the Fishlake National Forest.
Crisis management teams will be made available to them, she said.
The Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands has taken control of managing the firefighting efforts. An incident command team from California is expected to arrive tonight to begin battling the blaze.
The Devil’s Den Fire has so far burned between 250 and 300 acres of pinyon juniper and brush in Oak Creek Canyon. The wildfire was sparked by lightning on Aug. 15.