King5.com - Seattle, WA
ROSLYN, Wash. -- More than a thousand people in Roslyn bid an emotional farewell Saturday to Tom Craven, one of four firefighters killed in the Thirty Mile Fire who people regard as a hero.
Craven's hearse was an antique fire truck and his funeral cortege a string of pumpers, tankers, emergency vehicles and green Forest Service rigs.
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It was a fitting honor for the career Forest Service firefighter who died with three other crew members when the Thirty Mile Fire blew up in the northern Cascade Range, the country's deadliest wildland fire since 1994.
"By all standards, Tom Craven ranks at the top. He had the biggest heart and the biggest smile," Roger Krening, his former Cle Elum High School football coach, told 1,500 mourners at a memorial service here Saturday.
"At work, Tom was such a strong person, mentally and physically," said Mike Starkovich, a childhood friend and Forest Service colleague. "Tom was famous for his banter. If you were down, he brought you up. If you were too up, he brought you down."
The laughter in the room was accompanied by grief over a man who died too soon.
Craven, who was married and the father of a 7-year-old daughter and a 4-year-old son, was remembered as a hard-working man with a sense of humor and a lot of courage.
He was a star high school athlete and a standout at the College of the Redwoods in Eureka, Calif., and later at Central Washington University in Ellensburg.
"Tom Craven in my estimation made the big time. And now Tom is on God's team, and I'll tell you, the big time doesn't get any bigger than that," Krening said.
Craven, 30, was the first in his family to graduate from college, with a degree in sociology in 1997 from CWU.
He began working as a firefighter for the Forest Service in 1990. He was assigned to the Wenatchee National Forest's Naches Ranger District in 1993, and was a squad boss, in charge of a five-member crew.
Four of 21 firefighters on mop-up duty died Tuesday when they where trapped in the Thirty Mile Fire, which, stoked by high winds and high temperatures, exploded from 25 acres to 2,500 acres in less than three hours.
Memorial services are scheduled later in the week for Karen L. Fitzpatrick, 18; Jessica Johnson, 19; and Devin A. Weaver, 21.
Craven befriended the new and the shy. He made up nicknames for his co-workers, and he had a special place in his heart for the young people on his crews, Starkovich said.
"He would teach them how to do a good job, how to have fun with the job, and they were safe with him," Starkovich said.
On Saturday, about 150 firefighters, including members of the region's elite Forest Service hotshot crews, lined the hallways in formation at Walter Strom Middle School.
Most mourners wore purple ribbons in honor of the firefighters who died.
Sonny O'Neal, the forest supervisor for the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forests, said the Forest Service and the Craven family "sort of grew up in this part of country."
The Cravens were a pioneer family in the old mining town, most recognizable as the fictional town of Cicely, Alaska, in the 1990-95 TV series, "Northern Exposure."
Two generations of Cravens have worked with the Forest Service, including three of Tom Craven's brothers, who are also firefighters.
And O'Neal, like Krening, remembered Craven's smile the best.
"When I saw a crew ... you could always spot him because he had the most warm, welcoming smile," O'Neal said.
AP Photo/Elaine Thompson
Tomisha Craven, 7, cradles the flag from her father's casket while pallbearers walk past to end a service. Fire crews had one of the state's three major wildfires contained and a second one close to wrapped up Saturday. But there was no closure in sight for the deadly, 8,200-acre Thirty Mile Fire, which killed the four young firefighters Tuesday and was projected to cover 12,000 acres in the north Cascades before it is extinguished.
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"Be assured we won't forget the Craven family and all that they've done, especially Tom -- we'll remember him forever."
The others who died were 18-year-old Karen L. Fitzpatrick, 21-year-old Devin A. Weaver and nineteen-year-old Jessica L. Johnson.
A service for Devin Weaver is set for 10:00 a.m. Monday, and a memorial for Jessica Johnson will be held at 3:00 p.m. Monday. Both services will be held in Yakima.
Services for Karen Fitzpatrick are set for Tuesday at 2:00 p.m. at the Stone Church in Yakima.
The Forest Service says it also plans to hold it's own service after the fires are extinguished.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
First Of Four Perished Firefighters Laid To Rest
