The Denver Post
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ORDWAY, Colo. — Cheryl Anselmo can still see Terry DeVore suiting-up and describing the voracious brush fire sweeping toward Ordway moments before he left to battle the blaze.
Hours later the Olney Springs town clerk was there when DeVore’s mother Deborah received a text message from her husband telling her to meet him at their son’s home.
“We had heard about an emergency vehicle that had fallen off in the bridge collapse probably right after he left here. I just knew, I put my head down and started praying,” Anselmo said today.
DeVore, 29, and John Schwartz, Jr., 38, both died when the emergency vehicle they were riding in fell from a collapsing bridge.
The two corrections officers at the Arkansas Valley Correctional Facility were members of the Olney Springs Volunteer Fire Department.
“Not only did these two fine men serve the public by upholding safety and security in their daily jobs, but they further served their communities by volunteering. That they paid the ultimate price is a tragedy. The DOC family extends our heartfelt condolences to the Davore and Schwartz families,” said Ari Zavaras, DOC executive director, in a statement.
DeVore, a father of three elementary school children, had served with the fire department for 10 years and recently was elected fire chief.
“He was very proud of being the fire chief. He loved the town and he wanted to make improvements for fire safety,” Anselmo said.
DeVore’s mother, Deborah, is the mayor of Olney Springs, a rural hamlet with a population of about 300. His father, Bruce, is also a volunteer firefighter, and rode in another vehicle to fight the inferno that forced the evacuation of nearby Ordway.
DeVore’s wife, Jennifer, is also a guard at the correctional facility.
DeVore arrived yesterday at the town municipal building, where the fire department is located, shortly after the fire began.
Anselmo and Deborah DeVore were sitting in the clerk’s office, when he came in pulling on his gear.
Dwight Gardner puts water on what is left of his “retirement,” thousands of pieces of collectible pottery, ceramics and chinaware that he and his wife had collected for the past 15 years in Ordway. They hoped to sell it all on eBay as part of their retirement.
He was ready to do his job,” Anselmo said.
His death still hasn’t sunk in, she added. “I just like him, he has a sense of humor, he is fun to be around.”
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