Iowa Firefighting Brothers Seriously Burned in Training Accident

June 29, 2004
Two brothers from Glenwood were being treated for severe burns at a Lincoln, Neb., hospital Wednesday after being injured during a training accident being conducted by the Glenwood volunteer fire department

GLENWOOD, Iowa (AP) -- Two brothers from Glenwood were being treated for severe burns at a Lincoln, Neb., hospital Wednesday after being injured during a training accident being conducted by the Glenwood volunteer fire department.

Roger Marvel of Glenwood was listening to a police scanner Monday night when he heard there had been a fire training accident. Earlier that day, he had spoken with his son, Dustin, who had told him he and his brother, Jeremy, would be involved in the training in Glenwood in southwest Iowa.

``I knew it was one of my sons,'' Roger said. ``And then the scanner said another person was severely burned. Everything in my mind said it was the boys.''

He was correct.

Jeremy Marvel, 28, and his brother, Dustin Marvel, 21, were leading the training exercise involving a controlled fire for the Glenwood Volunteer Fire Department. Jeremy is the department's second assistant chief and Dustin is a captain.

The injuries occurred about 7 p.m. Monday as they lit the brush pile on the south side of Glenwood, fire department spokesman Rick Erickson said.

``When they ignited it, it ignited really fast and the flames rolled back over them,'' he said.

The two were taken to a nearby hospital, then transferred to the burn center at Saint Elizabeth Regional Medical Center in Lincoln.

The two have burns over all their bodies, Katy Marvel, Jeremy's wife, said. The hospital said they were in good condition Tuesday night.

Roger said his sons were not dressed in firefighter gear during the training exercise.

``They've been in some real dangerous situations,'' he said, ``but when you're training, you don't expect something like this to happen.''

The Marvel brothers are doing well now, considering the circumstances, Roger said.

He said they're in good hands at Saint Elizabeth. The hospital is recognized as having a premier burn center employing advanced treatment techniques.

One of those advancements, Transcyte, described as a human tissue-derived temporary skin substitute, is being used on the brothers' burns, said Ruth Albrecht, the hospital's burn education program coordinator.

Transcyte acts like a bandage, but its material is grown from specific human skin cells and contains key human proteins and other vital substances known to help in the burn healing process.

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