[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 146 (Tuesday, September 19, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S13871]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO ERIC SHAEFER

Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, over this past weekend Baltimore 
experienced a devastating eight alarm fire which swept through the 
Clipper Industrial Park, claiming the life of one Baltimore city 
firefighter and seriously injuring three others. I rise to pay tribute 
to Eric Schaefer who gave his life during this tragic event and to 
commend all of the firefighters who responded so quickly and put their 
lives on the line, including Capt. Joseph Lynczynski, Stu Curtain, and 
Barry Blackmon, who were injured in the blaze. This tragedy reminds us 
that firefighters risk their own lives every day to protect the lives 
and property of others against the very real dangers of fire. I ask 
that an article about Eric Sheafer, entitled ``Firefighter Loved 
Everything About the Job,'' from the Baltimore Sun of Monday, September 
18, 1995, be printed in the Record.
  The article Follows:

                [From the Baltimore Sun, Sept 18, 1995]

                Firefighter `Loved Everything' About Job

                          (By Dennis O'Brien)

       If he wasn't fighting fires or jumping from airplanes, Eric 
     Schaefer was probably working in his garden.
       The 25-year-old Baltimore native spent much of his spare 
     time raising peppers and tomatoes in the garden behind the 
     Glenmore Avenue home, when he and his wife had settled after 
     their wedding in July.
       Mr. Scheafer, a Baltimore firefighter who was killed 
     Saturday during a fire at a Baltimore foundry, will likely be 
     remembered and eulogized in Maryland this week for dying a 
     hero's death.
       But friends and relatives said last night their memories 
     are of a lively, flesh-and-blood personality--a nonstop 
     talker and would-be gourmet cook who loved fighting fires for 
     the city Fire Department and jumping out of airplanes as an 
     Army Reserve paratrooper.
       ``He loved anything that would give him a rush,'' Tina 
     Schaefer said last night of her late husband.
       Mrs. Schaefer and other relatives said Mr. Schaefer never 
     talked about the dangers of the job he held for 18 months.
       ``He loved being a firefighter. He just loved everything 
     about the job,'' said Dorian Schaefer, Mr. Schaefer's father.
       He enjoyed camping and reading books about World War II and 
     Vietnam. He had an aquarium with eight fish and was 
     fascinated by snakes--keeping 15 of them as pets.
       ``He'd play games with them, sort of tease you with them, 
     say, `Here take this,' and he'd practically put one on your 
     lap,'' said William Boyd, a longtime friend.
       Mr. Schaefer had the usual culinary tastes. He liked pizza 
     and enjoyed spicing up his taco chips with salsa. But he also 
     enjoyed cooking exotic meals--tuna steaks and scallops in 
     garlic were his specialties.
       Mr. Schaefer and the former Tina Robinson had known each 
     other since they were in school together at St. Francis of 
     Assisi Elementary School in Northeast Baltimore.
       Stories about being a firefighter from his fiancee's 
     grandfather, Kenneth A. Robinson, a retired Baltimore fire 
     captain, and her father, Kenneth B. Robinson, a retired 
     fireboat engineer, inspired the Overlea High School graduate 
     to take the firefighter's exam.
       When he was accepted into the Baltimore Fire Academy about 
     two years ago, ``He knew he had found his life's work,'' said 
     Mr. Boyd.
       Mr. Schaefer was born in Hamden, the oldest of three sons 
     raised by Dorian Schaefer, a construction worker, and his 
     wife, Suellyn.
       Mr. Schaefer attended Archbishop Curley High School for 
     three years and then transferred to Overlea High School, from 
     which he graduated in 1989.
       He worked as a picture framer at Total Crafts, a shop in 
     the Parkville Shopping Center, until 1992. Then, he joined 
     the Army Reserve, serving with the 450th Civil Affairs 
     Battalion, an airborne unit based in Riverdale. As a 
     paratrooper, he had 10 jumps to his credit, according to 
     relatives.
       Along with his parents and wife, Mr. Schaefer is survived 
     by two brothers, Todd, 22, a dialysis technician in 
     Baltimore, and Chad, 16, a senior at Overlea High School.
       Services for Mr. Schaefer are set for 11 a.m. Thursday at 
     St. Francis of Assisi Church on the 3600 block of Harford 
     Road. There will be viewing at the Ruck Funeral Home on the 
     5300 block of Harford Road from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and from 7 
     p.m. to 9 p.m. tomorrow and Wednesday.
       Mr. Schaefer's family has asked that memorial contributions 
     be sent to the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center Burn 
     Center.

                          ____________________