Mormon Lake Hotshots History

The Mormon Lake Interagency Hotshot Crew is a U.S.D.A. Forest Service sponsored Type I crew based on the Coconino National Forest in Flagstaff, AZ. The crew was founded in 1976 and originally based at the Mormon Lake Guard Station, 25 miles south of Flagstaff. In 1979, the crew moved to the Mormon Lake Ranger station, on the southern edge of town and remains based there today. In 1989, the crew adopted red and black as crew colors and designed the current crew logo, a silhouetted elk head.

On July 7 1976, three crewmembers were entrapped and perished on the Battlement Creek fire in western Colorado. Steven Furey, Scott Nelson, and Superintendent Tony Czak are remembered as pioneers of the Mormon Lake Hotshots and memorialized at the Western Slope Fire Center in Colorado.

After working his way up through the ranks from rookie crewmember in 1984, Kirk A. Smith was appointed Superintendent in 1996. Kirk ran the crew until he was diagnosed with cancer in 2001. Sadly, on September 11, 2002, Kirk passed away. He is remembered and dearly missed by the Hotshot community.

Robert Auza was appointed Superintendent in 2003 and serves in that position today. Mormon Lake IHC upholds a proud tradition of fire management and continues to produce leaders for the wildfire community.