By Paul Hammel
The Omaho World-Herald
WYMORE, Neb. — The flag at the Gage County Jail in Beatrice was flying at half-staff in memory of Jeremy Wach, the jail’s director and a volunteer firefighter who was killed fighting a house fire early today in Wymore.
Wach, 31, was one of three volunteers from Wymore who entered the burning home shortly before the roof collapsed. The fire call had been received at 12:50 a.m.
Wach, who was reportedly in the center of the 1 1/2-story bungalow-style house, was pinned by falling debris.
The two other firefighters were able to escape. One of them had to be pulled from the wreckage, officials said.
“The roof just collapsed after they got in,” said Gage County Attorney Randy Ritnour, a friend of Wach’s. “They just couldn’t get to Jeremy.”
A woman and her two children, who live in the house, were escaping as firefighters arrived, he said.
Wach, who attended grade school in Estes Park, Colo., and graduated from Lincoln High School in Nebraska, is survived by his wife, Melissa, and two preschool-aged boys.
Wymore is a farming community of 1,600 people that is 12 miles south of Beatrice and eight miles from the Kansas-Nebraska border.
Wach joined the Gage County Sheriff’s Office as a deputy in 2004 and was promoted to jail director in January by Millard Gustafson, the county’s newly elected sheriff.
Together, they had made changes at the jail that made the 30-bed facility profitable for the county, including housing some inmates temporarily on cots and expanding the commissary.
Wach also had taken over the job of checking on the residence of convicted sex offenders in the county -- such offenders are required by law to report their address and any changes. The work had resulted in four felony prosecutions this year, Ritnour said.
“He was a go-to guy. Someone you could always count on,” Ritnour said.
Sheriff Gustafson said Wach was to be promoted to sergeant Jan. 1, 2008, due to his accomplishments with the jail and sex offender registry.
“I’ve done a lot of death calls in my 30 years in law enforcement, but this was the toughest,” the sheriff said. “He always gave you 110 percent. It’s going to be tough for us.”
It was the second tragedy in less than two years to hit the Gage County Sheriff’s Office.
In June 2006, Ben Slaven, son of Gage County Sheriff’s Sgt. Bruce Slaven, was killed while serving in Iraq. The memorial flagpole erected in Ben Slaven’s honor held the flag that was lowered this morning in honor of Wach.
At least 13 other Nebraska firefighters have died in the line of duty since 1990, according to the Nebraska State Volunteer Firefighters Association.
Copyright 2007 Omaha World-Herald