Steve grew up in Erie Pennsylvania, far from the Santa Cruz Mountains, and his career in procurement for several high-tech Silicon Valley companies might at first look unrelated to his fire fighting activities, but he's really quite at home as a volunteer. As a boy scout, his first merit badge was actually in firemanship. His purchasing expertise has regularly helped the department acquire new equipment and grants. In fact, Steve's grant writing skills recently resulted in the award of a large grant to the department for volunteer recruitment and retention. As both a past vice president and president of the department, Steve has been very involved with our activities and the community.

As with all volunteers, Steve responds to all kinds of calls whenever he can. His most memorable call thus far was working on the Croy fire in 2002, the largest local fire since the Lexington fire in 1985. He spent nearly 24 hours helping hold the fire at the Santa Cruz / Santa Clara county line.

Steve has been married to Laurie Daniel - a wine writer for the San Jose Mercury News, among other publications - for 22 years, and he accompanies her on wine trips when he can, learning about and enjoying good wines. When he's not otherwise occupied, you might find him deep-sea fishing, hiking, skiing, or cooking. You might also see him at a 49ers game, hoping for a winning season.