By Micheal Chukwuebuka, Reporting
THE fire chief of a small town in Texas, where large wildfires have been burning, died responding to an unrelated structure fire on Tuesday, report says.
Stonix News gathered from a reliable source that Fritch Fire Chief, Zeb Smith, was responding to a structure fire in the city at around 7 a.m. when he went inside to check for people who needed rescue and never came out.
Smith’s cause of death, as of the time of filing this report, had not been determined.
“This structure fire was not directly related to the ongoing wildfires.
“However, I would be remiss if I did not say that Chief Smith, along with every other volunteer firefighter in this county and in his department, has responded for the last nine days actively fighting these fires.
“So, I think we all can say with pretty good certainty that it did have a role in today’s unfortunate incident,” emergency management office spokesperson Brandon Strope said at a news conference.
Hutchinson County Judge Cindy Irwin, the top executive for the county’s government, said Smith was a dedicated public official committed to protecting the safety of the community.
“It was his dedication to this duty that ultimately led to his death.
“Just as we’ve come together as a community to support one another during these wildfires, we’ll continue to support the family of Chief Smith,” she said.
Hutchinson County, where Fritch is located, is where the so-called Smokehouse Creek Fire, now the largest wildfire in state history, began last week.
The Roughneck Fire, which has burned around 355 acres, is also burning northeast of Fritch. That fire was 90% contained as of Tuesday, according to state agency Texas A&M Forest Service.
NBC News reported that the Windy Deuce Fire, which is around 144,000 acres and is 55% contained, is west of the city.
Two people have died in the panhandle wildfires, officials have said.
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