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BLM Firefighter Brett Stearns to Be
Remembered
By
Joshua Roberts, Craig Daily Press
June 29, 2009
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BLM Firefighter Brett Stearns (Courtesy
of the BLM) |
A
Bureau of Land Management firefighter
was killed Friday afternoon in an
accident while working on a hazard-tree
removal project, the BLM office reported
in a news release Saturday.
Craig
resident Brett Stearns, 29, was killed
about 4:30 p.m. Friday during a hazard
tree abatement project at Freeman
Reservoir, 15 miles northeast of Craig.
A
federal accident investigation team is
conducting a “detailed investigation”
into the fatal incident, the BLM
reported.
Stearns was working on a project with
about 12 other BLM firefighters when he
was struck by a falling tree.
He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Stearns was an engine captain and had
worked in the fire program for the BLM
Little Snake Field Office in Craig since
1999.
“He was a leader,” said Lynn Barclay, a
BLM fire mitigation/education specialist
with the Little Snake Field Office.
“People looked up to him. He had the
capability to inspire people, all those
around him, to go the distance and do
their best.
“He
was a wonderful person.”
Stearns is survived by his wife, mother,
father, brother and half sister, the BLM
reported.
A funeral has been scheduled for 11 a.m.
Wednesday at the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints Chapel, 1295 W.
Ninth St., in Craig.
John Husband, Little Snake Field Office
manager, said Stearns was a brave public
servant.
“On behalf of the Little Snake Field
Office and the Northwest Colorado
Interagency Fire Management Unit, I
offer my condolences to the family and
friends of Brett Stearns,” Husband said
in the news release. “He dedicated his
life to protecting the lives and
property of the public. Firefighting is
a dangerous profession, and firefighter
safety is the number one priority on
fires and projects such as this.”
There are more than 40 active
firefighters working for the BLM’s
offices in Meeker, Kremmling and Craig.
Barclay said Stearns’ death has been
hard on his fellow firefighters and BLM
officials.
“The fire community is a family,” she
said. “We’re tight-knit, close. It’s hit
everyone very hard, but people are
banding together and supporting the
Stearns family and looking at how we can
best remember Brett and honor him.”
Stearns was “always eager” to work with
children on fire education and
prevention programs at area schools,
Barclay said, and he was a mentor to new
recruits. Stearns served as an
instructor at times with the Colorado
Wildfire and Incident Management
Academy.
“He was a really kind and caring
person,” Barclay said.
“He was someone that is well respected
and held in high regard by his peers,
and not just locally, but across the
country.”
Posted
06-30-09 |
