The article didn't post correctly...so I needed to share this with all of you, my cyber friends...
Badge of Honor
He always had a need to do something good.
9/2/99
By JOSHUA MOLINA
NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
In a somber outdoor
memorial service that
moved firefighters and
law enforcement
officials to tears, the
community on
Wednesday
remembered the life of
a city firefighter killed
in the line of duty.
Under dark, cloudy
skies, more than 500
people from Santa Barbara and throughout the state honored
Stephen Joseph Masto, 28, who died last week while helping
battle the Camuesa Fire in Los Padres National Forest.
A motorcade of 30 fire engines traveling from Cabrillo
Boulevard arrived at the Rose Garden across from the Santa
Barbara Mission about 11 a.m. for the start of the service.
Streets were blocked and traffic was rerouted downtown to
accommodate the procession.
As the service began, family and off-duty fire officials
marched down Los Olivos Street in front of the Mission,
leading fire engine No. 1, which carried Masto's casket
draped in an American flag.
A children's choir sang "Angels Are Watching" as the fire
trucks parked around the garden. The U.S. Forest Service
Air Tanker 22 flew overhead in honor of Masto.
A bagpiper performed "Amazing Grace" as officials carried
the casket to a stage set up for the service. Bouquets of
flowers and several photos of Masto colored the stage.
During the event, Masto's family, friends and co-workers
shared stories of what he had meant to them.
Daniel Masto characterized his son as an honest man who
loved people.
"He always had a need to do something good," he said. "He
trusted people implicitly. And he reached out to people."
The senior Masto said his son's best qualities were his
sensitive nature and willingness to help others.
Early on, Masto had a clear vision of what career he wanted
to pursue.
"After high school, he said he wanted to be a firefighter," his
father remembered. "And when he went through the fire
academy, he graduated at the top of his class."
Before coming to Santa Barbara, Masto worked as an
apprentice firefighter for the Brea Fire Department and as a
reserve firefighter at departments in Upland and Los
Alamitos. Masto also worked as a volunteer disaster worker
in Long Beach.
Daniel Masto also told how his son was enrolled in business
school at Pepperdine University and was just two classes
short of graduation when he took the job with the Santa
Barbara department in January.
The department's chief, Warner McGrew, recalled the
toughness Masto showed in his final assignment. He worked
as an emergency medical technician in support of the
firefighters battling the Camuesa blaze, and McGrew said
the terrain Masto had to hike in was extremely rugged.
"It's unbelievable than any human could make it as far as he
did," McGrew said. "His determination is unequaled."
McGrew said he went to the site where Masto's body was
found and said even seasoned firefighters would have had a
tough time hiking in that area. McGrew said some of the
slopes measured as much as 80 degrees.
"He was given a mission to travel in an area that was
difficult," McGrew said. "The determination he had was truly
indicative of the hero he was."
A friend of Masto's, Jim Bunnell, said he was puzzled over
why Masto died.
"I don't know what God's plan is, but I know parents aren't
supposed to bury their children," said Bunnell, while crying on
stage.
In a lighter moment, Bunnell described how Masto developed
the nickname "Swoop."
Before Masto married his wife, Lisa, Bunnell said, the two
bachelors would often flirt with girls at parties. Whenever
Masto walked into a room, he would command everyone's
attention, and "it was like everyone else was out of the
conversation."
"He would swoop right in," Bunnell said.
Bunnell said Masto loved life and lived it with passion. "He
could talk to a fence post and probably like it," Bunnell said.
Masto's primary supervisor, Battalion Chief Michael
Kotowski, said during the service that he has seen hundreds
of firefighters in his time, but none as fine as Masto.
Kotowski gave Masto his final assignment: To help fight the
fire in the forest. In the 117-year history of the department, it
was the first fatality suffered by a city firefighter in the line
of duty.
"We are having a hard time getting over this one," Kotowski
said.
It is unclear how Masto died. Autopsy results earlier this
week were inconclusive, and the Santa Barbara County
Coroner's Office is awaiting results of toxicology tests and
microscopic analyses of tissues taken from the firefighter's
body.
Masto was found face-down on a steep hillside Saturday
morning after being missing for about 15 hours.
Rep. Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara, said she could relate to
how Masto's family felt because she endured a similar pain
when her husband, Walter, died of a heart attack two years
ago.
She said Masto paid the "ultimate sacrifice."
"In remembering Stephen, we can never repay him for his
dedication and hard work," Capps said. "Rather, we must
honor him by being especially mindful of the brave men and
women firefighters he left behind to carry on the selfless
work of protecting lives .Ò.Ò."
On Tuesday, Gov. Gray Davis ordered flags to be flown at
half-staff at the state capitol in honor of Masto.
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