[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Pages 19577-19578]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               A TRIBUTE TO THE IDAHO FALLEN FIREFIGHTERS

  Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, the reason I ask for this privilege is to 
speak to my colleagues in the Senate about two families in Idaho who 
have just lost their sons fighting wildfires. My sympathy to the 
families of Jeff Allen of Salmon, ID, and Shane Heath of the Treasure 
Valley of Idaho. These brave men lost their lives while trying to save 
our public lands from a catastrophic wildfire in the Salmon-Challis 
National Forest, this past Tuesday, July 22. Both men were experienced 
firefighters of the Indianola Helitack Crew.
  My heart and prayers are with the family and friends of these two 
firefighters and the Forest Service firefighting family.
  Jeff Allen was 23 years old and had been a firefighter since 1999. He 
started working on the Salmon-Challis National Forest on a thinning 
crew on the Salmon-Cobalt District in 1998. He served successfully in 
fighting devastating fires on the Salmon-Challis National Forest during 
the 2000 fire season. Jeff was a marketing major at Boise State 
University.
  Shane Heath was 22 years old and this was his fourth season with the 
Forest Service. He served on the Helitack crew as a certified sawyer 
and was also a student at Boise State University.
  The tragic loss of these two men will be felt throughout their 
communities and their selfless acts of true bravery will not be 
forgotten. I commend the men and women who risk their lives every day 
by undertaking this terribly dangerous job with courage and 
professionalism.
  Thousands of young men and women are on the fire fronts of the 
wildfires that are now sweeping across the West. As we enter the middle 
of fire season, with the devastating heat that we are having in the 
Great Basin, and the West, I hope that we do not lose another fire 
fighter to wildfire.

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