Thursday, February 28, 2008

GREELEY — Volunteer Fire Captain Shane Stewart was remembered in Greeley today as a fellow with an impish grin, a mischievous streak and the kind-hearted father of two who went out of his way to help others.

Between laughter at some of his practical jokes and a large screen picture of Stewart in drag, there were heart-felt words of condolence and loss.
"He will be deeply missed by everyone who knew and loved him," said Scott Wagner, the chief of the Pierce-Ault Fire Protection District.
"I felt honored when we moved into the new station and he asked to have the locker next to mine."

Stewart, 33, was killed early Saturday when the 1995 pumper engine he was driving ran off the road as he answered an Ault medical call.
The flag-draped casket of Capt. Shane Stewart is carried to an Ault-Pierce fire truck on Feb. 28, 2008. (THE DENVER POST | Brian Brainerd)
More than 300 fire and rescue first responders paid tribute to Stewart, an Ault/Pierce Fire Protection District volunteer who was the Pierce station captain.

The service was held in the center of Greeley at the Union Colony Civic Center.

Outside were fire trucks and ambulances from more than 40 jurisdictions.
Two hook and ladder trucks - one from Colorado Springs and the other from Edgewater - extended their ladders over the street, a giant American flag hanging from the ladders and blowing in the gentle breeze.
Also on the street were seven huge Colorado Department of Transportation snowplows.

Stewart worked for CDOT and often drove a snowplow.

It was the use of one of those snowplows by Stewart in the early morning hours of a very snowy day that led off the remembrances.

The Rev. Erik Karas told how a nameless law enforcement officer in northern Colorado had parked his car off to the side of a road on a hill overlooking a small town that night. His eyes got heavier and heavier and he eventually fell asleep.

It was still dark, Karas recalled, as Stewart, plowing the road with his huge piece of equipment, spotted the officer’s darkcar.
The minute he saw the car, Stewart knew exactly who had fallen asleep in the car, said the minister.
"He turned off the lights of the CDOT plow and slowly drove up," said Karas. "Then he turned on the plow’s air horn and scared the living crap out of that cop," said Karas, to the roaring laughter of the firemen, paramedics and a large contingent of police.
"I’m sure he had that little grin of his on his face," Karas added.
It was that grin that was Shane Stewart’s personal trademark - a "permanent fixture" that rarely left Stewart, said Karas.
But Karas said the overwhelming personal characteristic of Stewart was his devotion to being a firefighter and helping others.
"He loved being a fireman," said Karas. "He hungered for more and more training and more and more knowledge so he could serve people."
"When we take care of other people, we feel really alive," said the minister. "When he responded to a call, he put others’ needs before his own."
"He changed life and made a difference. Shane’s life did nothing but change the world," he said.
Larry Sheets, a longtime personal friend of Stewarts and a former Ault/Pierce chief, recounted how when Stewart graduated from high school in 1994 he "graduated with a degree in ’cool hair.’"
His hair was important to him, Sheets recalled, just as was anything with a motor and anything that went fast.
When he started riding motorcycles, Sheets said, Stewart wanted a hairstyle similar to Peter Fonda’s.
Wagner, chief of the Ault/Pierce Fire Protection District, said Stewart loved to talk to people and loved to eat - raiding ice boxes looking for hard-boiled eggs, string cheese, just about anything.
But one thing Stewart didn’t like was the "countdown" when the fire department was responding to an emergency.
Wagner said he would yell out the miles to the scene - three miles, two miles and one mile. As he yelled "three," Stewart would grunt; when he yelled "two," Stewart would let loose with some expletives; and at one mile, Stewart would yell "Shut Up!"
"He didn’t like the countdown. It made him very nervous," said Wagner.
Throughout the service, everyone’s thoughts were with Stewart’s family - his wife Cyndee, and sons Blake, 9, and Logan, 7.
During the slide show of pictures, they repeatedly were shown with Shane Stewart. There were also photographs of Stewart with his parents, Paul and Jeanette, and brother Sean.
After the service, the flag-draped casket was carried to Ault/Pierce Fire Protection District Engine No. 6 as dozens of firefighters lined the sidewalk to the engine.
There the casket was carefully lifted to the top of the truck.

This story was copied from www.firefighterclosecalls.com


Badgers Comments:
The story at www.firefighterclosecalls.com hasa photo caption of two young children, one carrying his fathers fire helmet. A very powerful picture. My own 8 year old cried when he saw the picture, and told me to wear my seatbelt on the firetrucks.

God bless Capt Shane Stewart, and provide comfort for his grieving family.

Badger
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