July 11, 2001

Contact: Mark Anderson (509-963-1493/fax: 509-963-2301/email: AndeMark@cwu.edu)

ELLENSBURG, Wash. - Two of the four firefighters killed July 10 in the Thirtymile Fire north of Winthrop had ties to Central Washington University.

Jessica L. Johnson, a CWU junior majoring in food science and nutrition, and Tom L. Craven, a 1997 CWU alumnus with a bachelor's degree in sociology, died when the fire trapped them in a narrow canyon of the Chewuch River Valley in the North Cascades.

Nancy Buergel, CWU assistant professor of food and nutrition, said Johnson was a 1999 graduate of West Valley High School in Yakima.

"We are all deeply saddened," Buergel said of Johnson's death. "Jessica was a good student and very personable."

Craven, who is survived by a wife and two children, was a standout running back on the 1993 and 1994 CWU football teams. He rushed for 1,293 career yards, which ranks 12th on CWU's all-time list.

Perhaps his best moments on the gridiron came in the final three games of the 1993 season. Craven came off the bench in Central's regular-season finale and rushed for 150 yards and four touchdowns in a 42-28 victory over Western Washington University, then followed it up with a 265-yard effort as the Wildcats edged Linfield College (28-26) in the first-round of the national playoffs. He ran for 163 yards the next week in a 35-17 loss to eventual NAIA champion Pacific Lutheran University. Craven was Central's leading ground gainer in 1994 with 684 yards.

United States Forest Service officials have started an investigation into the tragedy, believed to be one of the worst losses of life in a wildfire since a Colorado blaze claimed the lives of 14 firefighters seven years ago this month.