LANE, Kan. — On Sunday night, a car wreck in rural Franklin County, Kansas, killed eight people and injured one.
Numerous good Samaritans stepped up to help during the crisis.
Before authorities released the identities of the victims, Nathan Schwarz, owner of Schwarz General & Feed Store, was offering to help.
"I put out a Facebook post... We didn’t know who it was, but to let us know and that we’d figure out a way to help anyone who needed it," Schwarz said.
He went on to add that there are numerous emergency calls on the two-lane stretch of U.S. 169 near Lane.
But a crash this size is something they've never seen.
"You see it on the news," Schwarz said. "You see Kansas City has wrecks like this all the time, but not here on that highway."
Just south of Lane, Joshua Strutton was picking up his niece north of Garnett, Kansas.
He arrived near the crash site to a plume of smoke. He told KSHB 41 his wife thought it was a grass fire.
"That was by far one of the worst things I've ever seen in my life," he said.
Strutton told KSHB 41 his motivation to help was spiritual.
When he arrived, he parked about 75 feet from the scene.
He spoke with other bystanders, and they grabbed water bottles in an effort to put the flames out.
"It just seemed impossible," he described. "I just prayed to God that he would send down a rain to buy us a little more time for the Greeley Fire Department to arrive."
Alongside others, they began to dismantle the vehicles as best they could. Without the proper equipment, and many of the victims severely injured, hope that he could save those involved faded.
"I felt like a coward ... like there was more I could do," he said. "I've really been praying for the families ... for the boy who is waking up in the hospital without family members or a coach."
In Strutton's efforts to save the victims, he's living with the guilt of not being able to do more.
"This made me realize what I do have in life," he said. "If there is anything else I can do to help the victims, which I can't help much with money, I'll do it. Even to talk to the 15-year-old who lost his loved ones ... anything to take that burden off their shoulders."
Strutton plans to immerse himself in his work and family. He understands this traumatic experience will live with him forever, and he hopes his kids will someday take the leap to help others when they're needed most.
"It's just what any human should do," he said.
As for the rest of the rural Miami, Franklin and Anderson county communities, who grieve this tragedy in their backyards, locals tell KSHB 41 the willingness to help a neighbor is in their DNA.
"From the very beginning to now, it’s neighbors helping neighbors, friends helping friends, strangers helping strangers," Schwarz said.
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KSHB 41 reporter Ryan Gamboa covers Miami County in Kansas and Cass County in Missouri. He also covers agricultural topics. Share your story idea with Ryan.