In honor of fallen Cove fireman, foundation raises money for FD hopefuls

Killeen Daily Herald
By Thaddeus Imerman | Herald staff writer
August 19, 2023

COPPERAS COVE — For the third straight year, a local firefighter foundation raised money Saturday to send firefighter hopefuls to the Killeen Firefighter Academy.

Named in honor of a fallen Copperas Cove firefighter, the Negrete Firefighter Foundation has made it its mission to help those who want to serve the community.

Jose Negrete, who served with the Copperas Cove Fire Department for four years, died of cancer on July 28, 2020.

“His passion was always the fire department,” Jose’s mother, Maria, said Saturday at the fundraiser at Campfire Bar & Grill in Copperas Cove. “He loved his community — service before anything, even when he was diagnosed with cancer. He looked sicker than his patients, so that’s the type of commitment that he had.”

Tyler Williams, a firefighter with Travis County ESD-12 in Manor, went through the fire academy thanks to the Negrete Firefighter Foundation.

Williams said he has told Maria before that he probably would not have been a firefighter were it not for the Negrete Firefighter Foundation.

Growing up the youngest of eight in Copperas Cove, Williams said money was tight. It costs between $3,000 to $5,000 to go through the academy, according to Maria Negrete.

Williams, who served in the Marine Corps after graduating from high school, said he has always had a calling to be a firefighter.

The reason for the lifelong desire, according to Williams: “Having a career or being part of something that I can be proud of, and I can be proud that I tell people I’m a part of. And, ultimately, at surface level, it may be superficial, but I want to be my son’s hero. I want him to be able to tell his friends, ‘My dad is a firefighter.’”

At last year’s event, the Negrete Firefighter Foundation raised $10,000.

Williams went through the academy early last year and was hired by Travis County in November 2022.