LOCKHART, Texas (KXAN) — Two firefighters from the Maxwell Community Volunteer Fire Department died in a rollover crash Monday just outside Lockhart, city officials said in a press release.
Brothers Hunter Coco, 21, and Jonathan Coco, 25, were returning to Maxwell from fighting a wildfire outside of Lockhart when the crash occurred, according to a post on the Maxwell Community Volunteer Fire Department’s Facebook page.
Lockhart police and fire personnel responded to the crash on State Park Road (Farm to Market Road 20) at its intersection with San Jacinto Street on the southwest edge of town just before 2 p.m. City officials said around 1:45 p.m., a woman driving southbound on San Jacinto Street was hit by the Maxwell brush truck as she turned onto State Park Road.
The brush truck then rolled over, killing the two firefighters. The woman suffered minor injuries, and Lockhart Police issued a summons for failing the yield the right-of-way for the woman. A summons is similar to a citation, the press release said.
Jonathan was an assistant chief with the department and was a member since 2016 and Hunter was a member for a little more than a year, the post said. Jonathan also worked as an animal control officer for the Buda Police Department for the past four years.
Coincidentally, a KXAN photojournalist interviewed Jonathan Coco last week while covering a fire at a mobile home in Maxwell.
“The members of both the Department and District are grateful to all members of our community who have shown their support and eternal love to all of us and the Coco family in this very trying time,” the post said. “We ask, respectfully, that any showing of support and gratitude for our fallen members be held until further arrangements are made.”
LPD and the Texas Department of Public Safety are investigating the crash.
For those who wish to, donations can be made to the Maxwell Community Volunteer Fire Department, P.O. Box 216, Maxwell, Texas, 78656. The 100 Club of Central Texas also said it activated its Survivor Fund for the first time this year to help their families. People can donate online and share messages for the family, mail donations to 3200 Steck Avenue, Suite 240, Austin, Texas 78757; call the office at 512-345-3200; or text “100clubcentex” to 44321.