Town Town mourns firefighters, children

COPING DURING THE HOLIDAY SEASON

By GREG SMITH

The Associated Press

KEOKUK, Iowa --- Three of the dead were husbands and fathers with a combined 36 years of firefighting experience. Three were children - -- 1-year-old twins and a first-grader.

All six died in a duplex fire Wednesday, darkening the anticipation of Christmas in this Mississippi River town of 12,500. The loss of comrades fighting a fire was a first for the 19-member Keokuk department.

A black sash hung over the garage door of the fire station Thursday. Flags over city offices --- as well as around the state --- flew at half-staff.

"It's Christmas, and the whole thing is practically unthinkable," said Bill Olmsted, who lives about a block from the burned duplex.

The cause of the blaze was under investigation. Fire Chief Mark Wessel said the firefighters were caught in a "flashover," which happens when a fire causes everything in a room to become so hot it begins producing a flammable gas, which can ignite in an instant.

Twins Robert and Rebecca Cooper were taken out of the burning home, but died not long after. Seven-year-old Jessica McFarland was found dead along with two firefighters upstairs in the duplex. The other fireman was found downstairs.

Everywhere in town, someone had a story to tell about the firefighters, assistant chief Dave McNally, 48; Jason Bitting, 29; and Nate Tuck, 39.

"I don't care if it was fixing the roof at the school or if the boiler would break down in the middle of winter, Dave was the first one there. That was his nature. You didn't have to ask," said friend and bowling league teammate Roger Downey.

McNally, a 25-year veteran of the fire department, had a wife and three children. Bitting, who had been with the department more than six years, also had a wife and three children. And Tuck, a 4 1/2- year veteran, was married with two children.

Tuck was the junior varsity baseball coach at Keokuk High and a volunteer coach for the middle school's football and basketball teams.

"Coach Tuck was one of those coaches who was in the shadows. He never took credit for wins, but he was always the first one to congratulate me and the players after a game," said seventh-grader Zach Gatton.

Dawn Marlin, whose husband, Jeff, also is a Keokuk firefighter, said Bitting was "a kid at heart."

"He'd call up our son, Justin, who's 19, and want to come over to play guitar with him," she said. "Everybody liked him. He'd do anything for anybody."

DONATIONS

Donations for the Cooper family are being accepted at Church of Christ, 220 S. 13th St., Keokuk, Iowa, 52632. A memorial fund for the firefighters' families has been set up at Keokuk Savings Bank, 501 Main St., Keokuk, Iowa, 52632.

--- John Gaps III/The Associated Press

Dave McNally

Jason Bitting

Nate Tuck

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