By ABBY SIMONS
Des Moines Register (Iowa)
DES MOINES, Iowa — What should have been a joyous belated Christmas on Monday turned tragic in an instant for the family of a local firefighter.
Daniel Nichols, 40, of Indianola died shortly after 7 a.m. after his car struck a patch of ice. A full-time fire medic for the Des Moines Fire Department and a volunteer fireman in Indianola, he was on his way home from a 48-hour shift to celebrate Christmas with his wife and five children.
Not initially scheduled to work the holiday, Nichols had volunteered to work for a colleague to allow him to spend time with family. That’s the kind of guy he was, friends said.
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