By Erin Emery
The Denver Post
OLNEY SPRINGS, Colo. — A joint memorial service is scheduled for the two Olney Springs volunteer firefighters who were killed Tuesday while responding to a fire in Ordway.
The service for John Schwartz, 38, and Terry DeVore, 30, will be at Crowley County High School at 10 a.m. Saturday. The Schwartz family will also hold a memorial for him at 3 p.m. Friday at the United Methodist Church of Fowler.
The southeastern Colorado community has established a fund to assist all victims of the nearly 9,000-acre fire. Checks can be made to the Crowley County Community Foundation, in care of the First National Bank of Ordway, P.O. Box 278, Ordway, CO 81063. Contributions are tax-deductible.
The National Volunteer Fire Council said Thursday that the families of the volunteers will be eligible for a federal death benefit of $303,064. Olney Springs also has insurance coverage for the men, said Larry Brockett, secretary/treasurer of the Olney Springs Fire Department. The families would also be eligible for an accidental death benefit of $25,000 from the state.
The wooden bridge on Colorado 96 that collapsed, killing the two firefighters, after heavy fire swept through the area Tuesday has been temporarily repaired.
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