By Paul Hammel
Omaha World-Herald
 
WYMORE, Neb. — Hidden danger lurked in the attic of a burning home as three volunteer firefighters entered just after 1 a.m. Monday to extinguish the smoky blaze.

Flames, suspected to have started from a faulty electrical system, apparently had been spreading for some time. The fire had burned away supporting lumber in the attic of the aging, 1 1/2-story home, authorities said.

"They weren't in the house for more than a few minutes when the roof collapsed," said Wymore Fire Chief Gordon Michaelis. "When they went in, it all looked safe and secure."

Killed in the collapse was Wymore Firefighter Jeremy Wach, a 31-year-old married father of two boys, who was described as a devoted volunteer who "never missed a fire."

He had worked as a Gage County deputy sheriff since 2003 and was given added duties in January as director of the county jail.

The two other volunteers in the collapsed house, Blue Springs (Neb.) Fire Chief Brad Robinson and Blue Springs Firefighter Travis Schmidt, escaped with bruises. A deputy sheriff on the scene was treated for smoke inhalation.

With the help of firefighters and law enforcement personnel, the two Blue Springs firefighters worked feverishly but unsuccessfully to remove Wach, who weighed more than 300 pounds, from beneath the collapsed roof and ceiling debris, Michaelis said.

The fire chief said he had to order rescuers to abandon their effort as flames grew higher and as warning bells began to sound on the firefighters' oxygen packs. The packs are rated for 30 minutes of use but run out faster when a user is exerting himself, Michaelis said.

"It's hard to back out" of a building, he said, fighting back tears. "But we didn't want to endanger any more lives."

Wach was pronounced dead at 2:12 a.m., but his body was not recovered until about 7 a.m., officials said.

Preliminary autopsy results indicated that he suffocated under the weight of debris that fell on him, said Gage County Attorney Randy Ritnour.

"He never missed a fire. He always had that air pack, ready to go in," Michaelis said.

The three residents of the rental home, Teri Spencer and her two children, were able to flee before firefighters arrived.

On Sunday, she had called her landlord to report that electrical power in the house had flickered off, officials said.

Mark Meints, a part-time Wymore police officer and Gage County's emergency management director, was the first to arrive at Monday's fire, which was reported about 12:50 a.m.

He said it was determined that the fire's cause was inside the house, so the first three firefighters on the scene who were trained in using oxygen gear were sent in.

Meints and Michaelis said that it appeared the fire had been burning long before it was reported and that the blaze had spread into the attic rafters.

Investigators with the State Fire Marshal's Office were combing through the scorched shell of the house Monday. Traffic was detoured around the scene, along U.S. Highway 77, as investigators worked.

Flags were lowered to half staff at the Gage County Jail in Beatrice and around Wymore, a farming community of 1,600 about 12 miles south of Beatrice and eight miles north of the Kansas-Nebraska border.

A somber mood permeated Wymore as word spread. Counselors met with Wymore firefighters, and a meeting was held at the Gage County Sheriff's Office on how to deal with grief.

"This is just devastating to a small community like this to lose someone like him," said Dale Crawford, publisher of the Wymore Arbor State newspaper. Crawford hauled bottled water through the night to the 60 to 70 firefighters who responded from as far away as Clatonia and Beatrice, both in Nebraska.

Wach is the 22nd Nebraska firefighter to die in the line of duty since 1981, according to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.

He had attended grade school in Estes Park, Colo., and graduated from Lincoln High School before working as a corrections employee in Lincoln and at the state prison in Tecumseh, Neb.

He is survived by his wife, Melissa, and two preschool-age sons. Funeral arrangements were pending.

Gage County Sheriff Millard Gustafson, his eyes welling with tears, said he picked Wach to direct the county's 30-bed jail because of his expertise and his "go-go-go" work ethic.

Together, they had made changes at the jail that made it profitable for the county, including housing some inmates temporarily on cots and expanding the commissary.

Wach also had taken over the job of checking on the residences of convicted sex offenders in the county — such offenders are required by law to report their addresses and any changes. The work had resulted in four felony prosecutions this year, said County Attorney Ritnour, a friend of Wach's. 

Copyright 2007 The Omaha World-Herald Company