I'm hearing about 3 firefighters injured in OK. Anybody know anything about this?

Nolan Schmidt chief of the Hydro Ok Fire dept died in a grain elevator fire today. His brothers Warren Schmidt and Paul Schmidt both assistant chiefs were seriously injured

Thanks! Thoughts and prayers for them and their families from a fellow firefighter.

Praying for these families. calledoutPTL

My understanding is that Paul was dismissed from the hospital today. His brother Warren remains in the hospital with a broken back and their brother Nolan's funeral will be Friday at 10 AM. Nolan leaves behind a wife and two little girls aged two and five.
please continue to pray for their comfort as well as their future.

HYDRO, OK -- A fire in a Hydro grain elevator, half full of soy beans, took the life of one firefighter and injured four others. Nolan Schmidt, Hydro's Fire Chief, died battling the smoldering blaze. He was in his 30's and leaves behind a wife and two daughters.

The pain doesn't end with the loss of Nolan for the Schmidt family. Nolan's two brothers, Warren and Paul Schmidt were also battling the blaze which took place just across the street from the family's auto shop. Both were injured and rushed to the hospital.

Allen Entz, a Hydro firefighter, and Kyle Nonast, a Weatherford firefighter, were also injured.

Dennis Ward, a Hydro firefighter says, "Our hearts and prayers go out to the families."

The Hydro fire department consists of only 10 volunteers, so this tragedy is hitting them, as well as the small tight-knight town, hard.

Oklahoma State Fire Marshals are now investigating to find out what went wrong inside that grain elevator. All they could say about the investigation so far is that emergency crews had to cut holes in the metal on the side of the silo to get the firefighters out.

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Copyright 2009 KFOR-TV-DT. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Copyright © 2009, KFOR-TV


HYDRO, OK -- Four out of five emergency responders are now home from hospitals after they suffered injuries in Monday's grain elevator fire in Hydro. Hydro firefighter Warren Schmidt is still recovering at an Oklahoma City hospital. He is the brother of Nolan Schmidt, Hydro's fire chief who was killed in the line of duty fighting Monday's blaze.

On Tuesday the town was quiet except for the sound of machines pumping out the last of the soy beans from the grain elevator. The local barber, Ed Parker, says everyone in town is stunned from the tragedy.

He says, "I know he'll truly be missed by his friends and of course family, loved ones but just a real sad time in our town and in our hearts."

Nolan and his family are well known and well liked in the small town with a reputation of helping anyone in need.

Nolan Schmidt's funeral has been set for Friday at 10:00 a.m. at the Pleasant View Mennonite Church.

The church is about nine miles north of Hydro on highway 58. The fire chief leaves behind a wife and two young daughters. A fund for the family has been set up at the Bank of Hydro.

Contact KFOR News directly by clicking here if you would like to submit a news story tip or suggestion.

Copyright 2009 KFOR-TV-DT. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Copyright © 2009, KFOR-TV

Note the community fund set up for Nolan's family




http://www.newson6.com/global/story.asp?s=10064405

I wonder why Nolan was in the bin? My impression of fire chiefs (could be off!) is that they are the ones doing the triage outside and keeping the men organized and so on...I thought usually it's the regular guys that are supposed to be in the middle of it...
I guess that's beside the point now...it's an awful tragedy for a family and my heart goes out to the wife and kids.

I think small town volunteer firemen are different.

I am on two different departments. One is a career/paid on call combination department. There is always a chief in command that is in charge of all operations and usually stays in one spot running the incident and has people reporting to him of the progress of the fire.
The other department I am on is an all volunteer department that has 25 members. We are fortunate enough to have enough guys there to use the same incident command system there.
However, when I was the chief in New Plymouth, there were times that I had to be driving a brush truck and trying to either coordinate incoming units or other units on scene. You just make due with what you have until other resources arrive or you get the fire under control.
But there is another dimension to this whole tragedy. From the story that I have heard, he went in to help his brothers after he learned they were in trouble. I can totally understand the thought process of dropping everything else to help rescue his brothers.
Tragically, he paid the ultimate price.
My heart goes out to the families involved.
My understanding is there is a fund through the U.S Fire Administration to compensate families of fallen firefighters. I know it can never come close to replacing them but it can ease the families mind a little bit of the financial stress of this situation.