On the night of Friday, Feb. 28, three firefighters sustained injuries during a structural fire north of Laramie.
The Laramie Firefighters Facebook post about the incident said, “On February 28, 2025, at approximately 20:20, Laramie Fire Department (LFD) Engine 3 was dispatched to a reported structure fire north of Laramie. The responding crew encountered hazardous conditions while conducting suppression and investigation efforts inside the structure.”
Two injuries occurred during the first structural collapse. There was a secondary collapse that also resulted in a third firefighter being injured. Dylan Schilt, one of the firefighters that was hurt, was moved by air to Medical Center of the Rockies. He is suffering a spine injury, along with a collapsed lung and a broken ankle.
Firefighter Schilt is experiencing at least temporary paralysis from the middle of his back and down. The other two firefighters affected were treated and have been released from Ivinson Memorial Hospital.
Mike Schilt, Dylan Schilt’s father, interviewed with Cowboy State Daily and said, “The collapse inside the house was sudden and terrifying. The house was pouring smoke, but firefighters were uncertain where it was coming from. The incident commander on scene sent Dylan and the other firefighter inside to investigate further.”
Upon investigation, they thought the fire started inside of the chimney, and went to cut a hole in the chimney chase to investigate further. Cowboy State Daily wrote, “As Dylan recalls, the section above the other firefighter collapsed first, and he was knocked out cold by falling stones. Then Dylan looked up, just in time to see the section above him come tumbling down.”
“Dylan was turning to run when that section above him went, and it hit him in the back,” Mike Schilt said in his interview. “It bent him over double, and he felt his spine snap.”
As of now, the Schilt family is hopeful that Dylan will regain either full or partial motor function of his lower body. Doctors have told them that there does not appear to be permanent damage to his spine.
The most recent update from Mike Schilt said “Dylan had a chest tube removed yesterday; the lung that had collapsed is functioning as it should so that’s encouraging.” Dylan Schilt’s condition improving has caused his loved ones, and the Laramie Community following him, to be hopeful of a full recovery. He will be transported to the Craig Rehabilitation Center in Denver within the next week.
The Albany County Fire Department urges the Laramie community to keep the injured firefighters in their thoughts, as they begin their road to recovery.
