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Doug Coyle, co-founder of Wildland Firefighter magazine, died June 17 of a heart attack.
A 34-year veteran of the Oregon Department of Forestry, Coyle was well known for his work in fire protection and prevention. His “retirement” from the fire service was in fact the beginning of a new career. In 1996, he co-founded Wildland Firefighter and served as its publisher until it was sold to Elsevier Public Safety. “Doug truly believed there was a need for a magazine that would be ‘the voice of the wildland firefighter’ — not the bureaucrat, not the politician, but for the men and women out there doing the hard, dirty work,” says Jeff Berend, vice president/publisher of Elsevier Public Safety. “By creating a professional magazine like Wildland Firefighter, Doug helped give all those involved in wildland fire a mirror that said, ‘What you do matters.’”
Coyle also had a large influence in the building of the National Wildland Firefighter Monument in Boise, Idaho, and the creation of the Wildland Firefighter Foundation. Most recently, in 2003, he founded the magazine HOME & Fire.
Below, several of Coyle’s friends and co-workers recall his lasting impact on the wildland fire community.
A Big Man
I knew Doug by reputation before I met him; he was known as one of the really good, solid fire chiefs. He was never a person who spoke in terms of “I"; he always spoke in terms of “we.” Because of that, I think in many cases some of the people in the leadership hierarchy kind of ignored him. But when it came to a difficult situation, Doug was the kind of person you wanted around.
After Doug retired, four or five us started Wildland Firefighter. Even when we were struggling to learn how to run a magazine, Doug was always optimistic. As we muddled along, he never lost the editorial commitment to the on-the-ground firefighter.
What I would like people in the fire community to remember about Doug is that he was one of them. He was always committed to the people who were digging the lines, throwing the dirt. He was a big man, both in stature and in heart, and he was a true firefighter. The wildfire community has lost one of its best.
—John Marker, co-founder, Wildland Firefighter
A Recognized Leader
Doug and I worked together in one capacity or another for 30 years. He worked for me as the director for the Protection from Fire Program, when I was an assistant state forester.
Doug was one of those unique individuals who grew up in fire and stayed in fire his whole career. At any level he was at in the fire environment, the people he worked with respected his expertise, knowledge and ability to work cooperatively with other agencies. Fire was Doug’s greatest love, and he was committed to building effective fire organizations at all levels.
Doug once came up with a motto for his working group — Oregon Fire Protection Program: Doing What Needs Done. That typifies how I remember him; I think of him as doing what needs done.
—Fred Robinson, former assistant state forester, Oregon Department of Forestry
A Tough Act to Follow
Doug steered the Protection from Fire Program during some years in which we were getting a lot of high-profile wildland/urban interface (WUI) fires. He was a strong leader during those years. He was particularly good when the task was complicated and involved innovation. That made him well suited for both managing the program and launching Wildland Firefighter magazine.
Doug was passionate about firefighter safety, about confronting the complex problem of keeping homes from burning down in a safe and effective manner. He was a “safety first” sort of guy, but he was also very much a proponent of doing whatever it took to get the job done. He also believed that prevention was a key cog in linking WUI fires and wildland fires in general. He was a big player in the development and the expansion of the Firewise program.
Great leaders are often not easy to get along with. Doug and I battled on many fronts, but we always came out able to work with one another as colleagues and talk with one another as friends. It will be a challenge to fill the void he leaves.
—Brian Ballou, former editor, Wildland Firefighter, and wildland/urban interface specialist for the Oregon Department of Forestry
A Seed for Change
I met Doug in 1995 when we were working on the monument at the National Interagency Fire Center. He came to one of our meetings, and he never left after that. He was the original co-founder of the Wildland Firefighter Foundation. He and I both volunteered thousands of hours to the Foundation to get it started. I truly believe behind all the generosity he had in helping the Foundation get its roots in the ground was his compassion to make a better life for firefighters on the ground and in the air. Doug was a person who started so many things. He didn’t plant the seed, he was the seed, and he cultivated the ground that helped us all grow.
Doug always, always encouraged people to go beyond their own barriers. There were many times I would have quit doing what we were doing if I hadn’t had him as a therapist on the other end of the phone, telling me we could do this, we could change the lives of wildland firefighters. It wasn’t ever about what was in it for him. In fact, the less notoriety he received, the more active he became in helping firefighters.
Maybe the best way to remember Doug is in the words of one of those firefighters, who posted the following message on the TheySaid forum: “Doug Coyle was more than a friend. He was one of my mentors, and he taught me not to be restrained by my own barriers. I wish I had spoken with Doug more these past few years, but I will always remember him as the ‘Why can’t we?’ type of guy he was … and I have long ago forgiven him for the money I lost to him in poker games and sucker bets.”
—Vicki Minor, Executive Director, Wildland Firefighter Foundation
Editor’s note: Doug Coyle’s wife, Harriet, has asked that those who feel compelled make a donation in Doug’s memory to the Wildland Firefighter Foundation, which can be made by clicking here.