Brandon was a man who liked the outdoors, and recently he purchased a dirt bike, which had become his new passion.

Brandon also had worked 3 1/2 years underground in the mines. He was on the mine rescue team before becoming a shift boss. In fact, when the media were allowed inside the mine to take pictures within the first few days of the original collapse, Kristen said it was Brandon's crew that was working. Brandon and many of the men who were injured or in the mine Thursday night are the ones seen in video that has been shown on news networks across the world over the past week, she said.

Brandon had been at the mine every day since the initial collapse.

"When this whole thing occurred, all of us were really worried. He called us up and said, 'Those are my brothers.' He loved those men, and he went underground every day knowing the risks, knowing what could happen. He took that risk," Kristen said.

Dusten Heugly said he knew one of the rescuers killed Thursday but refused to give out his name until it was released officially by mining authorities. That man was later identified as Kimber.

"He was a regular, nice guy," Heugly said. "He was the type of guy you'd want to be your neighbor."

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E-mail: preavyi@desnews.com