Tragedy struck a Salt Lake City ward on Aug. 2 when lightning claimed the life of one Scout and injured three others at a Boy Scout camp at an elevation of 10,400-foot in Utah's Uinta Mountains.

Paul Ostler

Two leaders and five Scouts of the Wasatch Ward, Salt Lake Hillside Stake, had just settled down to sleep at about 10 p.m. when lightning struck a tree next to their cabin. The lightning then jumped to the cabin, apparently through a nail in the structure, then struck four of the boys inside.

The two leaders and two doctors from a nearby camp were able to revive one of the two boys who was unconscious after the strike, but Paul Ostler, 15, a teacher, could not be resuscitated.

Paul, and the three Scouts who survived the strike, were life-flighted to Salt Lake City-area hospitals. The three injured Scouts are in good condition, though their parents report that their sons are deeply saddened by Paul's death.

Ward leaders and parents of the three injured deacons, say that Paul had taken the younger boys under his wing as a friend. "He will be missed more than you can imagine," said Paul's parents, Brent and Teresa Ostler, in a press release.

"Paul was a typical teenager," said Bishop John Barney, "but he was a teenager with a testimony, and that showed in his service. Just last week he was volunteering at Welfare Square in the soap factory and then helping my son complete his Eagle Project. Each Sunday he was always willing to help the deacons pass the sacrament."

Bishop Barney added that the terrible tragedy has brought out the strength and fiber of a ward in which four of its 12 young men were involved. "Members of our relatively small ward have been rallying to support these four families who have been affected. We have strong Young Men leaders who are working hard to help our Young Men get through this."

Even as she mourns the loss of her son, Sister Ostler, the ward Relief Society president, continues to express concern for the other families whose sons were injured, and appreciation to those who are caring for these families while she cannot.

Funeral services were to be held Aug. 6. for Paul, an Eagle Scout. The accident occurred eight days after LDS Scout leader Michael LaCroix of Alaska was killed in an electrical accident at the National Scout Jamboree in Virginia.

Meanwhile, volunteers planned to gather in the Uinta Mountains near Camp Steiner Aug. 4 to renew their search for Garrett Bardsley, a 12-year-old Scout from Utah who disappeared last year while camping.