A Fremont Rural Firefighter was killed in a five-vehicle accident Monday morning in Crawford County, Iowa.
Bart J. Kelly, 35, of Fremont worked for Underwriters Laboratories and was on his way to administer a test in Iowa when the accident occurred, said John Jacoby, chaplain of the Fremont Rural Fire Department.
Crawford County Sheriff Tom Hogan said the five-vehicle accident occurred shortly before 8 a.m. on U.S. Highway 30, about three to four miles northeast of Dunlap or about an hour from Fremont.
"We covered a real tragic accident (Monday) morning," he said. "The roads were slushy and maybe a little slick, but I don't think surface conditions were the overriding factor."
Hogan said Kelly was traveling northeast with a sports utility vehicle ahead of him and a van behind him. A semi-truck was heading southwest on the two-lane, 55 mph speed limit highway with a car following it.
"It's a very complicated accident, so we turned it over to the Iowa State Patrol to investigate," Hogan said. "It would appear Bart was the victim of an accident that took place ahead of him."
Hogan said Kelly was wearing a seat belt and was not ejected from the car, but his vehicle rolled onto the driver's side.
"My heart goes out to his family and friends," Hogan said. "There was nothing anyone could have done for him. It was a real tragedy."
Kelly was pronounced dead at the scene, while another female was transported by air ambulance with significant injuries to an Omaha hospital, he said. The three other drivers were transported to local hospitals with non-life threatening injuries.
Jacoby said Kelly was tall in stature, slender, but was stronger than would be imagined.
"He loved to joke. He was very outgoing and very devoted to his two children," Jacoby said. "He was a well-liked, a very personable young man."
Kelly was a probationary firefighter with about six to eight months of training.
"He was well on track with his training. He would have been a great asset to the department," Jacoby said. "We had plans of a long time of him being of service to us."
He said the Fremont Rural Fire Department is still in shock and devastated over the loss Monday evening.
"It's going to be a major loss to the community. He'll be greatly missed," Jacoby said. "He was doing what he wanted to do and we're all feeling the loss. We're just all dealing with it differently."
Funeral arrangements for Kelly are pending at Moser Memorial Chapel.
