On Thursday, April 7, 2022, Chief Darren D. Krull was a passenger in a Ford Expedition, driven by the Phelps County Emergency Manager. They were enroute to a wildland fire, when they were struck head on by a water transfer tank, approximately 8 miles of Arapahoe on Highway 283. Shortly after 5 p.m. Thursday, an SUV carrying emergency officials to the fire collided with a water tanker on state Highway 283 in Furnas County as smoke from the fire cut visibility to zero, the patrol said Friday. Elwood Volunteer Fire Chief Darren Krull, 54, who was a passenger in the SUV, died at the scene, the patrol said. The SUV’s driver, 40-year-old Phelps County Emergency Manager Justin Norris, suffered life-threatening injuries in the crash, the patrol said, and was hospitalized in stable condition Friday morning. The 28-year-old driver of the tanker was not injured, the patrol said.
The Nebraska Emergency Management Agency said the fire began when strong winds blew a dead tree into a power line.
https://apps.usfa.fema.gov/firefighter-fatalities/fatalityData/detail?fatalityId=5215
https://wlfalwaysremember.net/2023/03/02/2022-04-07-darren-krull/