A Salt Lake City firefighter died Sunday when his wingsuit failed on a BASE jump from a 700-foot Utah cliff, cutting short a free-spirited life of service at 27.
The New York Post identifies the jumper as Gabe Reilly, a four-year veteran of the Salt Lake City Fire Department who leaped with a group near Millville Canyon in Cache County.
Reilly and eight to 10 other BASE jumpers took off from a ledge about 45 miles north of Ogden around 9 a.m. Sunday. His wingsuit did not generate enough lift. He hit the ground at high speed and died.
Cache County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Doyle Peck said Reilly was “experienced in this type of activity.” Even so, Peck said “something went wrong” and that Reilly “did not have enough lift with his wingsuit.”
“He impacted the ground at a high rate of speed resulting in his death,” Peck said.
Reilly’s father retired from the same department in 2024. The younger Reilly chose the same path and spent four years answering calls for Salt Lake City.
The Salt Lake City Fire Department confirmed his identity and posted a tribute on Instagram.
The department said:
"Gabe was known for his infectious smile, kind-heartedness, and his free-spirited nature. Gabe’s commitment to the department, his fellow firefighters, and the community will not be forgotten,"
That free spirit took him to steep cliffs popular with BASE jumpers. Millville Canyon’s drop is no small ledge. Seven hundred feet leaves little room for a wingsuit that fails to fly.
Reilly’s death came months after two other BASE jumpers were killed in Utah. In June, daredevil Andy Lewis, 39, and a 50-year-old man died in a botched tandem jump at Mineral Bottom, a remote desert area near the Utah-Colorado border.
Lewis had performed during Madonna’s 2012 Super Bowl halftime show. Experience did not save him either.
BASE jumping pairs a parachute with a leap from a fixed object, cliff, antenna, span, or earth. Wingsuits add a fabric airfoil meant to turn a fall into a glide. When the suit fails to produce lift, the jumper becomes a projectile. Peck’s account of Reilly’s final seconds matches that physics: not enough lift, then impact at high speed.
No other injuries from Sunday’s group were reported. No charges or equipment findings beyond the deputy’s description have been released. A formal medical examiner ruling was not detailed in the available account.
What is clear is the human cost. A 27-year-old firefighter who smiled easily, served his city, and chased a high-risk hobby is gone. His department remembers the commitment. The canyon recorded the rest.
First responders already face enough danger on the clock. Off-duty thrills that depend on perfect lift leave no margin when the suit does not fly, and gravity does not grade on spirit.
