Oct. 15, 1997

Fire captain has two reasons to stay busy

PEOPLE: Susan Madore won't stay idle after losing her daughter, and there is work to do at the command post.

By KEITH SHARON
The Orange County Register

The pink rose had browned along the tips of its petals, but fire Capt. Susan Madore didn't want to let it go.

A 25-year Orange County fire veteran, Madore spent Tuesday at the command post in Irvine Regional Park, helping with paperwork and collecting supportive hugs from blackened firefighters as they came down from the hills. A pulled muscle kept her off the fire line, where she wanted to be.

Saturday, Madore buried her daughter, Brittany, the 16-year- old El Modena High School student who died after contracting meningococcal infection. Brittany, in apparent good health, died suddenly last week after severe flulike symptoms hit her at school.

Madore, 48, had plucked the long-stem pink rose from her daughter's funeral bouquet.

``I have so many flowers, but I love this one,'' Madore said. ``I keep carrying something to remember her.''

Her own Silverado Canyon home was never in real danger as the winds carried the fire down the canyon in the opposite direction. But Madore couldn't sit home Tuesday morning. She drove to the command post and immediately saw an old friend.

``I had tears in my eyes and he said, `Don't worry, the fire is going the other way,' '' she said. ``I told him that's not why I'm crying. Every time I see someone I know, I'll probably feel a little teary.''

The firefighters helped out by giving Madore small tasks at the command post.

``These guys are great,'' she said, wearing her blue fire-department T-shirt and yellow flame-retardant pants. ``If I was sitting at home, I would be dwelling on things too much.''

In the presence of her friends, it was easier to think about other things.

``I was glad to see her,'' said Battalion Chief Ron Blaul, who greeted her with a hug.

Blaul said Madore is a tough firefighter.

``It runs in the breed,'' Blaul said.

Madore stayed all day, volunteering to fetch supplies or drive water to firefighters in the hills. Anything to keep working.

She walked around the command post clutching the pink rose in the palm of her hand as if she were protecting it.

``I'll keep the petals and throw them in with the others when they dry out,'' she said.

She plans to sprinkle all the dried petals on Brittany's grave.

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