Yarnell’s Fire Chief, Jim Koile, resigned during a special meeting of the Fire Board on Tuesday. Yarnell Fire District Board Member Carole Ryan read Koile’s resignation letter.
“It is with both sadness and pride that I submit this letter to you. I have worked very hard, as you know, to build a professional fire department in Yarnell,” the letter read. “I am proud of the work that I accomplished here and I know that you recognize the value of my contributions to the Yarnell Fire Department… I recognize that the fire department and community of Yarnell are now at a point where a younger fire chief with high energy and progressive ideas is required.”
According to FireEngineering.com, “A number of firefighters and dispatchers quit before and after the Yarnell Hill Fire, citing Koile’s management methods and an overall lack of preparedness. Specifically, one captain complained that Koile blew off efforts to clear brush in and around homes in Yarnell.”
On Monday, the Prescott Daily Courier published a story describing Koile’s role in the 1973 death of a 3-year-old girl. A jury acquitted Koile of murder but convicted him of manslaughter. Koile admitted to dumping the girl’s body in the desert, but judges later had the conviction dropped and all of his civil rights restored. Koile was sentenced to five years of probation.
Peter Andersen, Yarnell’s Fire Chief from 1999 to 2011 and a frequent critic of Koile, said he thought media coverage of Koile’s past and the response to the fire played a major role in Koile’s resignation, according to USAToday. Andersen plans to take out recall petition signatures against the current board members unless they agree to step down.