U.S. SENATE – U.S. Senator Steve Daines recognized David Stamey, Chief of EmergencyServices for Stillwater County, Montana, for his dedication to keeping his community safe, no matter what disaster may ensue.
Through his “Montanan of the Month” initiative, each month Daines highlights a Montanan by submitting a statement of recognition in the recipient’s honor into the Congressional Record, the document that reflects the official proceedings of Congress.
Daines welcomes anyone to nominate fellow Montanans for Daines’ “Montanan of the Month” program by calling Daines’ office at 202-224-2651 or by filling out the contact form on Daines’ website: HERE.
The following is the tribute Daines submitted to the Congressional Record to honor David Stamey:
TRIBUTE TO DAVID STAMEY OF STILLWATER COUNTY
Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, today I have the distinct honor of recognizing David Stamey, Chief of Emergency Services for Stillwater County, Montana, for his dedication to keeping his community safe, no matter what disaster may ensue.
David has served Stillwater County as the Chief of Emergency Services for nearly a year and a half, and since assuming his position in April of 2022, he has managed several disasters that few county DES coordinators would see in a lifetime.
Just two months after stepping into his role, David was tasked with responding to historic 500-year flooding throughout the region. When thesubstantial amount of snow and heavy rainfall from earlier that spring met the rapidly rising temperatures in June, the snowmelt and water runoff sparked immediate flooding throughout the Yellowstone Valley. Agricultural land, homes, roads, bridges and critical infrastructure took a significant hit. The Sibanye-Stillwater Mine in Nye, the world’s only viable platinum and palladium mining operation outside South Africa and Russia, was forced to suspend operations for roughly six weeks due to a road that provided entry to the mine being washed out. David continued to work tirelessly with local, state and federal partners to ensure the road would be restored in a timely manner and that his community at large remained on a swift path to recovery.
Most recently, a portion of a train headed westbound near Reed Point derailed while crossing a bridge over the Yellowstone River. Thankfully, there were no reported injuries, but there were multiple railcars submerged in the river releasing asphalt downstream. About a week later, all of the railcars involved in the derailment were removed from the scene, and after just 28 days post outage, the bridge was newly constructed, allowing the first train to cross over safely as crews continue to work diligently to remove remaining asphalt from the river. Thanks to David’s effective leadership and coordination within the Unified Command structure, train service was restored while never compromising anyone’s health or safety.
It is my distinct honor to recognize David Stamey for his unwavering commitment to keeping residents of Stillwater County safe. He has selflessly dedicated 30 years of his life to disaster and emergency services, and I’m confident his passion and expertise in this field will benefit folks in Stillwater County and across the State of Montana for years to come. Thank you for your continued efforts to keep Montanans safe, David. You make Montana proud!