Brad Elder is a volunteer firefighter in Crete as well as a professor at Doane University.
Despite being seriously injured while fighting wildfires, he tells ABC 8 Nebraska the community is helping him recover.
“It’s been amazing, what the community has done,” he said.
“That’s the part that I can’t wrap my head around. This is the part that makes me cry all of the time because it’s just so warming,” Elder said.
“You know, Crete, it’s an amazing community. It’s had a lot of outreach. Doane University has been amazing, the fire community has been amazing.”
Elder said he was particularly touched when an elementary class brought him cards.
“I just sit and read through the cards and cry through them all."
Elder was called to help fight the raging wildfires that swept through parts of southern Nebraska on Oct. 23.
The windy conditions made the fire spread quickly.
By the time he noticed the flames whipping toward him, it was too late.
Elder is scheduled for surgery on Dec. 5 to place skin grafts over some of his damaged skin.
His total recovery time is still unknown, but he hopes to move home in the first couple of months of the new year.
