MERRITT, Wash. (AP) -- A firefighter died when he was hit by a pickup truck after swerving to avoid hitting a deer on a charity motorcycle ride with his 13-year-old grandson, officials said.
Jack D. Stevens Jr., 53, of Buckley, a 28-year veteran of the Tukwila Fire Department, was participating in the 21st annual Lawman 1000 from the Seattle area to Lewiston, Idaho, to raise money for the Pediatric Interim Care Center in Kent at the time of the crash Saturday.
``Jack was a friend to everyone in the department,'' Tukwila Fire Chief Nicholas J. Olivas said Sunday. ``His loss is devastating.''
An oncoming pickup hit Stevens after he lost control of his bike when a deer ran onto the road about 6 a.m. about 10 miles east of Stevens Pass on U.S. 2, State Patrol trooper Rich Magnussen said. His grandson, Jacob Stevens of Tukwila, was treated at Central Washington Hospital in Wenatchee for a broken arm and was released Sunday, family friend Darrell Baskin said.
The pickup driver, Tyrie Bivings, 46, of Pasco, was not injured. Magnussen said there was no evidence of excessive speed, alcohol or other drugs.
On Sunday the other riders decided to continue the two-day event to raise funds for the program, which aids drug-exposed infants, saying Stevens would have wanted them to finish.
Besides his work in Tukwila, Stevens was a member of the Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Association Urban Search and Rescue Washington Task Force.
He also was among the firefighters who were sent to Oklahoma City after the bombing of the federal building there in 1995.
Survivors include his wife, Kathryn Diane Steves; son Bryan Stevens of Spokane; daughters Cheryl Stevens of Seattle and Traci Wilson of Des Moines, and four grandchildren.
Information from: The Seattle Times
