John Schwartz was a product of Olney Springs, a tightknit farming and ranching community in southeastern Colorado where everyone helps out one another.

So, about five weeks ago, the 38-year-old father of four became a volunteer firefighter, said his father, John Schwartz Sr. It was a chance to go from fixing neighbors' cars and trucks to being an even bigger help in a time of need.

That moment came - and tragically went - about 4 p.m. Tuesday.

Schwartz and Olney Springs Fire Chief Terry DeVore, 30, died when their fire engine drove into a ditch where a bridge had stood just hours or minutes before. They were trying to fight a fast-moving fire.

Firefighter Bruce DeVore rode in a firetruck behind his son's and Schwartz's truck.

"From what I understand, the smoke was so bad on the highway they couldn't see," Bruce DeVore's wife Deb told The Rocky Mountain News. "They could see his taillights, and they were following him. All of a sudden, the taillights disappeared and they slowed down. The road was no longer there."

"The visibility was terrible, a lot of black smoke and dirt," Crowley County Coroner Karen Tomky said Wednesday. "The bridge must have collapsed ahead of time, and they fell into a ravine."

Schwartz was a single father of four boys, ages 15, 11, 6 and 4, his father said. He raised cattle on a 40-plus acre ranch and worked as a correctional officer at the Arkansas Valley Correctional Facility. He loved to hunt and shoot with his boys.

"He was just a nice, fun-loving guy," his father said.

Schwartz signed up as a firefighter after talking with De-Vore, who was a sergeant at the prison and headed the volunteer fire department.

DeVore was married and had four children, Tomky said. His children ranged in age from 4 to 10.

About two hours after the pair's fatal crash, a firefighter lost his life at Fort Carson. Pilot Gert Marais, 42, of Fort Benton, Mont., was using his single-engine plane to drop retardant on the fire when his plane went down after his first load.

Marais, who went by "Jerry," was a veteran firefighting pilot. He moved to Fort Benton six years ago, said Bob Anderson, superintendent of the Fort Benton school district, where two of the pilot's children attend school.

Marais and his wife, Esme, have three sons and a daughter, Anderson said.

"A lot of people here in the community have gotten to know the family," Anderson said.

An experienced mechanic, Marais often worked on Anderson's planes, and one of Marais' rebuilt planes sits in Anderson's hangar.

"He is a wonderful person to have working on an aircraft," Anderson said, a "perfectionist."

Marais talked about flying planes in his native South Africa, and Anderson said he also lived and worked in Europe and Dubai.

The family was in the process of moving to Colorado, where Marais' company is based. He was flying for Aero SEAT Inc., based in Sterling and under contract with the Colorado State Forest Service.

Gazette reporter Scott Rappold contributed to this report.

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