Elizabethtown, IN, Assistant Fire Chief Arrested for OWI after Crash

March 11, 2025
The fire department's pickup truck was found on its side with Elizabethtown Assistant Chief Thomas Nienaber trapped.

Elizabethtown firefighters were familiar with both the occupant and the vehicle involved in a crash Sunday night.

The trapped driver was their assistant chief, and the pickup truck belonged to the fire department. 

Witnesses told deputies the vehicle's lights and siren were activated when it flipped onto its side and came to rest in a resident's driveway, WRTV reported.

Assistant Fire Chief Thomas Nienaber, 67, was responding to a structure fire when the crash occurred. 

He was transported to Columbus Regional Hospital where blood was drawn as part of the crash investigation. 

Nienaber was charged with operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated. He was released on $2,500 bond.

 

About the Author

Susan Nicol | News Editor

Susan Nicol is the news editor for Firehouse.com. She is a life member and active with the Brunswick Volunteer Ambulance & Rescue Company, Oxford Fire Company and Brunswick Vol. Fire Co. Susie has been an EMT in Maryland since 1976. Susie is vice-president of the Frederick County Fire/Rescue Museum. She is on the executive committee of Frederick County Volunteer Fire and Rescue Association. She also is part of the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems (MIEMSS) Region II EMS Council. Susie is a board member of the American Trauma Society, Maryland Division. Prior to joining the Firehouse team, she was a staff writer for The Frederick News-Post, covering fire, law enforcement, court and legislative issues.