Lost driver suffers injuries after car goes up in flames

    A Chase County Sheriff’s deputy believes the driver of a fire-engulfed vehicle may have been lost early Saturday morning in Enders.
    Galen Gurrero-Murphy, 36, of Denver was found about 200 yards from his burning vehicle after a 911 call at 3:27 a.m.  came into the sheriff’s office, said Deputy Duncan Einspahr.
    Initially, the call was reported as a structure fire, Einspahr said, so the Imperial Volunteer Fire Department (IVFD) was dispatched.
    Because a structure fire was initially reported, Chief Doug Mitchell said the Wauneta Volunteer Fire Department was also called in on mutual aid.
    Ambulances from both Imperial and Wauneta also responded.
    En route, emergency personnel fielded additional 911 calls with reports of an explosion and popping sounds, the deputy said.
    Once IVFD was on scene, the vehicle fire was discovered south of the railroad tracks and west of the Frenchman Valley Coop buildings, Einspahr said, on NKC Railway property.
    Gurrero-Murphy was then found 200 yards from the vehicle, in tall grass, and transported to Chase County Community Hospital.
    Gurrero-Murphy was in town on business, Einspahr said. He is a land protection manager with The Nature Conservancy, an environmental non-profit in Boulder, Colorado.
    “It appears he got lost and got his vehicle stuck by the railroad tracks,” Einspahr said.
    The Toyota SUV was nosed into a culvert, according to Imperial Fire Chief Doug Mitchell.

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