Courtesy Photo Scott Doyle and his wife, Steph Doyle

Scott Doyle, 35, a Montgomery County firefighter-paramedic, died Wednesday morning with his family at his side in Berkeley Springs, W.Va., said Scott Graham, assistant chief of the Montgomery County Fire Rescue Service.

"Scott definitely touched our fire service," he said. "He was a character."

Graham said Doyle was a strong person who strove to survive after his injury.

"It was a valiant fight, a valiant effort," he said. "The service Saturday is being planned to honor him and to celebrate him."

Doyle, a founding member of the Montgomery County Firefighters Pipes and Drums Band, was a former pipe major in the organization.

Jerome County, Idaho, Sheriff Doug McFall said Wednesday that members of the BASE jumping community had been told recently that Doyle had been taken off life support.

"This news is not unexpected," he said. "But anytime there is loss of life, it's just so sad — unfortunate news."

BASE jumping involves parachuting from a fixed object. BASE is an acronym for the four categories of objects from which one can jump: building, antenna, span and earth, according to basejumper.com.

Doyle suffered a head injury known as a diffuse axonal injury in his 250-foot fall.

A diffuse axonal injury involves the widespread injury to axons, a part of the nerve cells in the brain, according to the Merck Manual Home Edition.

During his jump about six months ago, Doyle's parachute deployed, but the lines became twisted, McFall said at the time.

The twisted lines caused Doyle to slam into the face of a cliff he had jumped off, then fall to the canyon.

Doyle was with his wife, Steph Doyle, and two other BASE jumpers when he crash landed in the Snake River canyon after jumping. The Doyles were experienced jumpers.