Fundraiser Setup for Injured Hanover CO Firefighters

A GoFundMe has been set up for two volunteer Hanover firefighters who were injured when their firetruck fell into a 20-foot-deep sinkhole after last week’s torrential rains.

Donations will go toward medical bills that aren’t covered by insurance and to assist them financially while they are unable to work, a Hanover Fire Department news release said.

“Both firefighters are in good spirits as they are on an extensive healing process and will be out of work for quite a while,” the department said in the statement.

Firefighters Kenneth Holbert II and John Greene were injured while heading to a reported crash near Old Pueblo Road and Birdsall Road about 2:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Driving south on Old Pueblo Road, firefighters saw what appeared to be debris in the road. They slowed but weren’t able to stop before driving into the large sinkhole, which wasn’t visible because of the glare from the wet road and the lack of streetlights in rural El Paso County.

Flooding washed out a 48-inch culvert at Old Pueblo and Birdsall roads, creating a deep, wide ditch, said county spokesman Dave Rose.

A different driver was crossing the culvert earlier when it collapsed but escaped just before a second car was swallowed by the sinkhole, the Colorado State Patrol reported. When the Hanover Fire Department crew arrived, its truck landed on top of the car, trapping the car’s driver.

When the engine fell, Holbert was thrown from the firetruck, breaking his pelvis. Greene suffered a broken nose and facial fractures and has five compression fractures in his spine, the department said.

Amid widespread flooding, the culvert collapse was “the worst problem,” Rose said. Old Pueblo Road will remain closed while crews remove the debris and install a culvert with larger concrete wings.

To make donations, go to gofundme.com/firefighters-in-need.

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