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Somewhere among the live music, dancing and reminiscing of another fire season gone by, Bureau of Land Management firefighters raised more than $5,000 in the name of a fallen comrade.

On Saturday at the Old Town Pub in Steamboat Springs, about 50 firefighters, friends and family members gathered to celebrate the end of the fire season and raise money for the late Brett Stearns.

The annual end-of-season party is normally a fundraiser for a national organization to help injured firefighters and their families, but a fatal accident this summer changed that.

On June 26, Craig resident Brett Stearns was struck and killed by a falling tree while clearing a hazardous area near Freeman Reservoir.

A memorial scholarship was set up in Stearns' name, in memory of his lifelong love of learning.

Jenna Beckerman, a wildland firefighter and longtime friend of Stearns', organized the event, which raised $5,039 for the scholarship fund.

"I definitely think the community came out and supported the cause, and they did it for Brett," Beckerman said. "People really showed how much they cared for him."

A raffle featured gift certificates and snowboard films, while a silent auction left one lucky participant with a new chain saw.

The Craig Hotshots also screened a documentary on their fire season, which featured footage from Craig to California.

Beckerman said the event raised more than double any other end-of-season fundraiser.

Beckerman met Stearns when she was 17 and working in dispatch.

She said the two were good friends in their fire careers and beyond and that a memorial scholarship was the best way to remember him.

"I feel like it's the best way to give back to the community he grew up in," she said. "I know how much education meant to him."

She said Stearns had taken almost every class at Colorado Northwestern Community College and found ways to take his lifelong education into his own hands.

"He liked to go out into the world and see it for himself," Beckerman said. "He wanted to experience things and figure them out. He always had some project going to better himself."

She said the event was a great success, a testament to Stearns' impact on the community.

"It was the best turnout we've had, as far as Craig people," she said. "And that just reflects how much he meant to everybody."