RAINBO WRECK - 1945

On May 9, 1945, Pueblo firefighter Joseph F. Robida died when a Rainbo Bread truck crashed into the rear of Engine Company 4.

Robida, 41, suffered a skull fracture.

Firefighter Joseph Ferraro, riding on the back-step with Robida, was injured. The bread truck driver was also hurt.

The collision occurred at intersection of Mesa and Lake as Engine 4 was responding to an alarm at 512 Acero Avenue, according to the Pueblo Fire Museum.

Robida -- nicknamed "Beets" -- was the son of Yugoslav immigrants. He earned his nickname for one of his many jobs, hauling beets.

Robida's son John, a schoolboy at the time of the accident, said in a 2015 interview with the Chieftain newspaper:

"I was confused, but I had a lot of uncles and they helped us. They told me ‘God needed a firefighter in heaven. God came down and took your dad.’ I thought that was an honor, and it helped me with my pain.”  

Recalling the funeral, he told the Chieftain:

"Firefighters from Denver, Colorado Springs and all over attended. It was a major event. I thought my dad was kind of a president."