Steven began his firefighting career at Camarillo State Hospital where he worked for 19 years, the last seven as a firefighter. He joined the Ventura County Fire Department in 1998, and worked the last eight Years as a firefighter on Truck 54 out of Station 54 on Pickwick Drive in Camarillo.

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Steven had an enormous sense of family both for the family that he was born into and the family that he discovered when he became a firefighter that carried him through to the end. Steven died Sunday, August 26, 2007 of complications arising from esophageal cancer contracted in the line of duty. He was 46 years old.