SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES
Families of fallen firefighters trying to come to terms with loss
Aug 24, 2015, 2:12 PM | Updated: 4:41 pm
A firefighter looks over at a fire being used to burn out an area between a house and the main wildfire on Saturday. (AP)
(AP)
The families of three fallen firefighters are left to deal with the enormity of their loss.
Tom Zbyszewski, 20; Andrew Zajac, 26; and Richard Wheeler, 31, died trying to battle a fire in Central Washington on Wednesday.
Officials say their vehicle fell down a 40-foot embankment before the flames engulfed them, killing three firefighters and injuring four more.
Daniel Lyon, 25, was taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle with second- and third-degree burns over 60 percent of his body. He remains in critical condition.
One of Lyon’s colleagues, Nils Luckman at the Milton Police Department, told KIRO Radio’s Ron and Don Show that Lyon was working as a reserve at the department, was working with the fire service, and was getting ready for a border patrol career.
“Dan is really a nice person, but I think he’s someone who wants to give back. He was the type of person who was taking it head on.”
Luckman said Lyon is doing well after his surgery on Friday; his lungs weren’t burned too badly in the fire.
“Now’s he at the point where I think it’s a psyche thing,” Luckman said. “Where he’s going to be at mentally I think that will be challenge for anybody who’s gone through this.”
Three others firefighters were injured in Wednesday’s incident. They’ve been released from the hospital.
Zajac’s family released a video via the U.S. Forest Service over the weekend. His mother spoke of her son’s love for nature and said the family is just trying to understand what happened.
“We are proud of him and all that he’s done. We’re spending these days together as one family, just trying to make it breath to breath,” she said.
Zajac’s wife, Jennifer, shared a message for those who continue to take on the fires in Washington.
“Stay safe, keep focused, and please everybody, come home,” she said.
The family says for those who wish to honor Zajac, they can donate to the Wildland Firefighter Conservancy, Methow Conservancy, or the Aero Methow Rescue Service.
The Ron and Don Show is also taking donations for the families of the injured and those lost near Twisp. As of Monday afternoon, a GoFundMe page raised more than $34,000.
