[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 76 (Thursday, May 8, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E869]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO TERRY DEVORE

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. MARILYN N. MUSGRAVE

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 8, 2008

  Mrs. MUSGRAVE. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the 
heroism and self sacrifice of Olney Springs Fire Chief Terry DeVore, 
31, who died in the line of duty on Tuesday, April 15, 2008, while 
driving to the scene of a brush fire threatening his community.
  When Terry heard the distress call Tuesday afternoon from nearby 
Ordway, Colorado, he jumped in his fire engine with fellow volunteer 
fireman John Schwartz to try to help. A massive wild fire was burning 
across the prairie and the smoke was so thick that Terry and John could 
not see the bridge burned out in front of them. Terry's father Bruce, a 
fire department volunteer for 36 years, was right behind them when he 
noticed their taillights disappear. Bruce and the other firefighters 
stopped and tried to fight the inferno in front of them, but it was a 
hopeless fight.
  Terry first started helping his father at the fire department when he 
was 13. He loved his town and he loved helping people. Although he grew 
up in Olney Springs, he left for a time to work at Rocky Mountain Steel 
Mills in Pueblo, Colorado, before returning home to work for the 
Crowley Correctional Facility. He then moved to the Arkansas Valley 
Correctional Facility where he became a sergeant. Terry also 
volunteered at the Olney Springs Fire Department that serves the town's 
350 residents and served as Fire Chief for the past year.
  Terry left behind wife Jennifer, four children between the ages of 4 
and 10, Ryan, Breann, Katy, and Jeremiah, and his parents Bruce and 
Deborah DeVore. ``He was never afraid of anything; there was no sense 
of fear,'' his mother Deborah told a newspaper. ``He loved helping 
people. He was always making jokes, pulling pranks on people. He just 
loved life.''
  Madam Speaker, I am honored to represent Terry and other men and 
women who sacrifice so much to care for their communities. I urge my 
colleagues to join me in mourning the loss of a great American and in 
expressing heartfelt gratitude and sincere appreciation for the service 
of Terry DeVore.

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