[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 158 (Tuesday, November 4, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H10319-H10320]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      HONORING NOVATO FIREFIGHTERS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening to honor the memory of 
firefighter Steve Rucker, a resident of Novato, California, and to wish 
the speedy recovery of three other Novato firefighters: Captain Doug 
McDonald, Shawn Kreps, and Barrett Smith.
  These four men were among the dozens of firefighters from my district 
who sped to Southern California to fight the recent fires that burned 
hundreds of thousands of acres. Yesterday I stood alongside Officer 
Rucker's colleagues, firefighters and police officers, and watched the 
mile-long procession that carried his casket down Highway 101 from the 
airport in Santa Rosa to his beloved city of Novato. My heart was 
filled with emotion as I watched the great sadness this community felt, 
the sadness and grief that comes with the death of a family member. But 
lingering in this grief, there was also pride, pride in recalling the 
life and heroism of one of their own.

                              {time}  2000

  These four firefighters served the Novato fire protection district. 
Novato is a prosperous place, a family town that touches San Francisco 
and reaches into the golden coastal hills. But the warm sun of Indian 
summer never lulls Novato firefighters. They know that the days before 
the rains come are the most dangerous time of the year throughout all 
of California. They also know that firefighters throughout the State 
are members of one large community, and when help is needed anywhere, 
they respond. So it was that without any contractual obligation, but 
out of compassion and comradeship that Shawn Kreps drove Novato fire 
engine 6162 all night a week ago Monday to join the fire lines at the 
Cedar fire more than 400 miles away. And so it was that Steve Rucker, 
Doug McDonald, Shawn Kreps, and Barrett Smith found themselves 
Wednesday on a back road 5 miles from the rural village of Julian, 
fighting to protect a scattering of homes.
  Fire can be a fierce and swift enemy, and when flames suddenly 
threatened to engulf the men, all they could do was run for their 
lives. Steve Rucker did not make it. Apparently the intense heat of the 
fire seared his lungs, and when Captain McDonald went out to look for 
his friend, he too was critically burned.
  Fortunately, Kreps and Smith suffered minor injuries, and I expect 
they will have many fires to fight in the future. Captain McDonald, 
however, remains hospitalized with serious burns, the wounds of a hero. 
My prayers go out to him and to his family.
  It was too soon for 38-year-old Steve Rucker to leave this earth. He 
left behind a loving wife, Cathy; a 7-year-old daughter, Kirsten, a 3-
year-old son, Wesley, and a home he had just built. His friends in the 
department knew Steve as ``the Ruckster,'' a cheerful, enthusiastic man 
ready to joke and laugh, a man they could count on to be a calm and 
competent firefighter and paramedic, a man who loved his job. He

[[Page H10320]]

was, according to his friend and colleague Tom Gaulke, ``a 
firefighter's firefighter.'' And yesterday when I stood with Steve's 
firefighting companions, they told me that Steve was the go-to person 
when they needed somebody in times like this. They needed his counsel 
yesterday and his support during their sorrow, but he was gone, and 
that is why they have such sorrow.
  Twelve thousand firefighters battled the armies of flames that once 
threatened to burn from Southern California's mountains to the Pacific 
ocean. Steve Rucker was the only firefighter to die in this historical 
battle. In this he receives a measure of immortality. He stands for all 
of the brave men and women who unselfishly risk their lives to save 
others, whether facing a wall of flames on a rural back road or the 
billowing smoke of the World Trade Center.
  Mr. Speaker, Steve Rucker was an irreplaceable man, but his family 
must go on with life without him. I wish them consolation in knowing 
that this man, son, husband, and father, died giving the gift of 
himself.

                          ____________________