‘My dad loved helping people’: Family remembers fallen Nebraska ex-fire chief

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – The son and daughter of a fallen retired Cambridge fire chief remembered their father for how much he loved helping people.

County Attorney Paul Wood said John Trumble, 66, of Arapahoe, died Friday around 7 p.m. as a result of the wildfire in Red Willow County.

“My dad loved helping people,” Kyle Trumble said. “He was always there to help. He, he just loved it. He was fire chief for 14 years, and he just, he absolutely loved being a fireman.”

Trumble had been helping crews battling the fire in Furnas, Red Willow and Frontier Counties by acting as a spotter.

“There is comfort in knowing that he died doing the one thing that he loved the most, so that does help,” Staci Trumble said.

The Trumble family is hurting but knows that they are not alone.

Multiple firefighters have been injured while battling the flames, and many farmers have lost livestock.

“So it’s not just our family that’s hurting, but the entire community is hurting, and not just with the loss of Dad, but the loss of livestock and homes and property damage,” Staci Trumble said.

The threat of fire growth continues as firefighters battle hotspots in brushy draws and near structures, the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency said.

The Multi-Mission Aircraft from Colorado was able to map the fire area.

As of Sunday, 41,155 acres have been burned.

See also: Road 702 Fire map