This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The Utah Department of Public Safety announced that Coy Porter is the new state fire marshal.
Porter has been preparing for the position his entire adult life, said DPS Commissioner Lance Davenport in a statement.
Porter has worked in the fire service since 1977 when he joined the Provo City Fire Department. Since then, he's been a firefighter, a emergency medical technician and a paramedic before becoming the chief of the department in October of 2002.
He's an expert in nearly every aspect of firefighting, according to a DPS news release.
The same year that he became the Provo fire chief, he was also a member of the committee that coordinated the fire and medical emergency aspects of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. He also was designated the overall fire service incident commander for Provo's Olympic Ice Hockey venue — meaning he would be calling the shots in the event of an emergency.
He even went to Athens, Greece, to help prepare the National Greek Fire Brigade for their 2004 Olympic Summer Games.
He retired from the fire chief position in 2007, moving on to serve as the state chief deputy fire marshal under Brent Halladay. When Halladay retired in December, the state chose Porter to replace him.
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