By Matthew Rink
Erie Times-News
HARBORCREEK TWP., Pa. — Steve Moore typically wears a different kind of uniform when he shows up for work at the Fairfield Hose Company Volunteer Fire Department in Harborcreek Township.
On New Year’s Day, though, the volunteer firefighter showed up on his ATV to plow out the on East Lake Road station’s parking lot wearing a T-Rex costume.
He got some laughs from his fellow firefighters, but motorists also took notice. People honked at him as they drove by. Others pulled their cars over to watch. Someone caught the episode on video.
“I was shocked when I saw it appear on my Facebook feed,” Moore said. “Then it just took off.”
One video reshared on the GoErie.com Facebook page had been viewed more than 71,000 times as of Friday.
Moore’s wife, Valerie, bought the T-Rex costumes off Amazon.com for the family of five to wear for Halloween. They wore them for the photo they used in their Christmas cards. Now they mostly sit in a box in the basement. Moore’s 8-year-old daughter, Amber, still loves to wear hers, though. When she put hers on last week, Moore followed suit.
“I made a few laps around the neighborhood and then I remembered I had to do some plowing at the station,” he said. “I did it out of fun. I was bored. If I could bring a smile to someone’s face it was worth it.”
Moore is 39, or as he puts it, “Old enough to know better, but young enough to not care.”
Chief Jim Hawryliw didn’t witness Moore’s antics firsthand. “Someone sent the video to me,” he said.
“He’s a funny guy,” Hawryliw said of Moore. “I think he just wanted to lighten the mood from the fact we had five feet of snowfall. I’m surprised (at the reaction it has gotten), but I’m not surprised. Everybody was so uptight about the snow that I think they were like, ‘Oh my gosh, there’s a dinosaur on a four-wheeler in the snow.’ It’s not something you see every day.”
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