By Bill Carey
EMS1
NEWTON, Iowa — A Newton firefighter claimed a $1 million Powerball prize after the drawing on April 6.
Firefighter Trent Baker was one of seven people nationwide who were just one number away from the larger $1.3B jackpot, WAVE reported.
Baker was up early for his shift when he checked the lottery app on his phone to see if he won.
“I saw a 1 and a bunch of zeroes and I wasn’t quite sure what it was right away, if it was a million or if it was a billion,” Baker said. “At that moment, it was panic mode.”
Baker made it to work on time and shared the news with his coworkers at the firehouse. He then took the rest of his shift off, using the time to research his next steps, the Iowa Lottery reported.
By the time he claimed his prize, Baker had spoken with a financial planner, identified the total to pay off his student loans and made investment plans.
Baker said that he and his fellow firefighters have an unwritten rule that if they end up in pictures or video in the media, they owe the firefighters ice cream. He said he is going to owe a lot of ice cream now.