A longtime resident of Laguna Beach, Steen Jensen started his fire service career in 1981 as a volunteer firefighter in Orange County. In 1983, he became a fulltime firefighter with the Laguna Beach Fire Department. He quickly became a firefighter/paramedic and subsequently promoted to fire captain in 1989. In addition to his honorable service as a firefighter, Jensen also served as a fire explorer post advisor, first aid/CPR instructor and information technologist. As an engine company officer, he led his company through the most destructive wildland fire in Laguna Beach history, the 1993 Laguna Fire. He died in 2012 after a two-year battle with job-related cancer.