An accident at mile 39 of the Dalton Highway took the life of a Kenai motorcyclist on Sunday morning it was reported by the trooper dispatch on Monday.

The AST report revealed that 60-year-old Ricky Koch, left the roadway at that location,  and crashed, while riding along the highway with several friends on Sunday. Kocj’s friends transported Koch to Livengood and found a phone to report the accident. AST received the call at 11:57 am.

A Guardian Flight was dispatched to the scene from Fairbanks. As they waited for the flight to arrive, CPR was attempted on Koch, but, when the Guardian Flight arrived, Koch was pronounced by flight medics.

A trooper from the Fairbanks Rural Unit responded to the scene and took custody of Koch’s remains, and his motorcycle, and the scene of the accident was documented.

It was reported that Koch was not wearing a safety helmet at the time of the incident. Koch’s next of kin have been notified of the incident.

Koch,  was also a former Iditarod Trail Committee President, and had just last year retired from his position as the Kenai City Manager.

Koch, who worked extensively as an advocate for the community of Kenai was praised by the Kenai Mayor, Brian Gabriel, who said, “Rick had an enormous amount of community pride beyond what he did as the City Manager. He didn’t see the City Manager as a job, but as a way to serve the City. He did everything in his power to make our community the very best it could be. Rick could always be found helping in our local schools, from playing a pivotal role in the new track and turf field at Kenai Central High School, to reinvigorating the local hockey booster club.”[xyz-ihs snippet=”Adsense-responsive”]

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