20-year-old firefighter killed in car crash

PLANTERSVILLE, Texas – A young firefighter was killed in a car crash in Plantersville on Saturday afternoon.

Harley Mullenix and her two friends, Heather Wenzel and Ashley Hataway, were traveling north on F.M. 1774 in a four-door Chrysler. According to the Texas Highway Patrol, Wenzel stopped to make a left turn onto County Road 302 and her vehicle was hit from behind by a Chevrolet.

Mullenix was pronounced dead at the scene.

Firefighters with the Plantersville-Stoneham Volunteer Fire Department were dispatched to the crash site to try and help Mullenix, their fellow firefighter.

"She was pretty much a daughter to everybody in here. She was the life of us. Everywhere she went, she made everybody smile," said Chief Michael Briggs of the Plantersville-Stoneham Volunteer Fire Department.

The two other women in the car were taken to Conroe Regional Medical Center.

Plantersville-Stoneham Volunteer Fire Department told KPRC 2 that Wenzel and Hataway are both pregnant but are doing OK. One of the women will have to get surgery for a broken jaw.

The Texas Highway Patrol said the driver was the only person in the Chevrolet. He was also transported to Conroe Regional Medical Center in stable condition.

Chief Michael Briggs of the Plantersville-Stoneham Volunteer Fire Department said Mullenix had been with the department for five years and she had celebrated her 20th birthday on Thanksgiving.

"Once she got into it, she was hooked. I mean she loved it. She loved the brotherhood, the sisterhood," said Briggs. "She was doing the training that grown guys were doing and she would figure it out."

Briggs posted the news of her death on the fire department's Facebook page saying: "I share this news with a broken heart, Plantersville-Stoneham Volunteer Fire Department had to say goodbye to one of our own today. Harley Mullenix lost her life in a vehicle accident to which our department responded to. She was and is loved by everyone. She will be truly missed and was a great firefighter and person."