‘He’s doing great’: Crete firefighter recovers after being burned in wildfire

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Three firefighters were injured Sunday while batting a wildfire in southwest Lancaster County.

Two of those firefighters, one from Crete and another from Southwest Rural Fire, only had minor injuries and have already been released.

But one of them, another Crete firefighter, remains in the hospital.

Brad Elder is still recovering at CHI St. Elizabeth’s burn center in Lincoln.

Elder had burns on 20% of his body, according to the Crete Fire Department.

Crete Fire Chief Tod Allen visited him Wednesday morning and says he is recovering well.

“He’s doing great,” Allen said.  “When I stopped on Monday he was still intubated and was still out of it, but this morning when I stopped, he was doing great.”

Elder joined the department in 2019 but has over 28 years of experience in wildfires.

He is also a professor at Doane University in Crete, where he teaches a prescribed burns program.

In fact, Elder had just returned home from teaching a class when he received a call about Sunday’s wildfires.

“He just got back from Canada that day and he was up teaching wildlife firefighter techniques in Canada,” Allen said. “I don’t even think he got his bags in his house yet.”

Allen said worker’s compensation should cover part of Elder’s medical expenses.

But in order to cover the gap, a Go-Fund-Me has been launched.