MORADA, Calif. — Steve Crosby, the former fire chief of the Waterloo Morada Fire District serving rural communities San Joaquin County, has died. He was 71.
Crosby died Thursday morning after a long battle with stomach cancer, according to current Waterloo Morada Fire District Chief Eric Walder. Crosby spent nearly 30 years working for the district and modernizing the agency’s technology, which employs 23 people and serves 12,000 residents within a 36-square-mile area northeast of Stockton, Walder said.
“You can put Waterloo Morada Fire District up against any fire district in the state, and we would definitely match up,” Walder said. “We are just as well trained now as mostly due to the efforts of Chief Crosby. (He) and other chiefs in the past have set this district up for success.”
In 1974, Crosby began his career with the district and rose quickly through the ranks. He was promoted to assistant chief in 1988 and took over as chief in 1993. He retired in 2003.
There are firefighters still working at the agency that Crosby hired, Walder said. Later in Crosby’s career, he taught firefighter management classes in an attempt to instill leadership in future chiefs and fire personnel.
Crosby also served as the operational area coordinator for San Joaquin County, meaning he was responsible for mutual aid response to large fires within the county, Walder said. There are reportedly 58 coordinators throughout the state of California.
“That's an extra duty that Chief Crosby took on for approximately 10 years that just really served the community of San Joaquin County and also the state of California with no compensation needed. He just did it as a volunteer,” Walder said.
Walder told ABC10 he never met Crosby, but if could stand in front of him he would thank him.
“Even though I never did meet Chief Crosby, his mark has been left on a Waterloo Morada in a positive way,” he said.
Crosby loved to travel, and he was an avid professional sports fan. He is preceded in death by his son, Stephen, and survived by his wife, Kimberly; his son, Kevin; and his grandchildren.
