Accidental death hits York County family – again
The York Daily Record’s story on Steven E. Stauffer’s recent death – after he fell 20 feet from a tree stand – contained a sentence that brought back memories.
It said Stauffer, 27, of Dover, was about the same age as his 3-year-old son when his own father died in an electrical accident in Jefferson.
Gregory A. Stauffer, a Jefferson firefighter, died in the line of duty… .
He was electrocuted when trying to move a ladder leaning against a church.
The ladder touched a 7,650-volt electric line — a repeat of an accident that 30 minutes earlier killed Phillip J. Baumgardner, an Adams County construction worker.
“You could always count on him (Stauffer) to do his job,” Jefferson’s fire chief said. “That’s what led to his death. He saw the ladder ready to fall over, and he went ahead and did something.”
From all accounts, Steven was there for others, too.
“He was always thinking of other people; he always put their interests before his,” his grandmother, Gladys Adams, said.
It’s not often that an emergency worker in York County dies in the line of duty, so it’s important to keep intact the memory of those who do.
