Incident Name: a prescribed fire on the Pike NF
Date: 2/2/2009
Personnel: Robert A. Schroeder of Palmer Lake, CO
Age: 47
Agency/Organization: US Forest Service
Position: firefighter
Summary: On February 2, 2009 Bob Schroeder passed away from a heart attack following a prescribed burn on the Pike and San Isabel National Forests in Colorado. He was a part of the Pike NF for a majority of his fire career and spent 12 years on the PIKE Interagency Hotshot Crew. He was well respected and known in the wildland community and especially in Region 2.
Photo from hotshots:
Maps
Palmer Lake, Colorado
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Reports, Documentation, Lessons Learned
- US Forest Service Heroes Memorial: Bob Schroeder
- Family Search: Robert A Schroeder
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Wildlandfire.com Links:
- They Said It: begins on 2/3/09 Scroll up.
Media Articles and Reports
- “See You in October”, Palmer Lake Native Bob SchroderMay 30, 2002 | Online article
Palmer Lake native Bob Schroeder never traveled much before he joined the Pike Hotshots 10 years ago. Now, he spends five months every year battling blazes coast to coast as part of the 20-member, Monument-based elite wildfire-fighting crew, a unit of the U.S. Forest Service.
Starting May 10, the Hotshots are on standby 24/7, ready to go any place in the United States where a major wildfire might break out. The work has taken Schroeder to 15 states and to Canada. In 1998, while combating disastrous fires in Florida, he and fellow crewmembers met President Clinton.
Schroeder, 41, has also been a Palmer Lake volunteer firefighter for 17 years. “It’s kind of in the blood,” he says. “My dad was on the Fire Department, my uncles. I just kind of grew up with that. It was exciting.”
He’s never been injured or in imminent danger. “What brings me back every year is the teamwork on the crew. We definitely watch out for each other.”
With already parched conditions, Schroeder fears he and his team are in for a long summer. “It’s not looking good,” he says. He doesn’t expect to see much of his 5-year-old daughter or his partner until the fire season is over. “I’ve already told my better half, ‘See you in October.'”
Photos, Videos, & Tributes
- Pike and San Isabel National Forests Memorial Grove: Robert A. “Bob” Schroeder
- Pike and San Isabel National Forests Memorial Grove: 2009 Event Photos
- Bob is survived by a 12 or 13 yr-old daughter (in 2009) whom he loved. He considered his fire community his family.
Contributors to this article: John Miller
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