By Paula M. Felipe
Oroville Mercury Register
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The burn center in Sacramento will be getting a consultation room thanks to the Oroville Firefighters Union Local 2404.
A check for $25,000 was given to the Firefighters Burn Institute by Local 2404, Tuesday.
The money will be used to sponsor and build a consultation room for a new burn center now under construction at the University of California, Davis, in Sacramento.
“This special room will be for patients and their families to meet with the doctors with some privacy,” said Executive Director Patty Neifer of the Firefighter Burn Institute.
“The old burn center did not have such a room, and the new regional burn center is expected to be opened in 2010,” she added.
The Oroville Firefighters Union had contacted Neifer to find out the needs of the Burn Institute and she suggested funding the new consultation room for the new burn center in Sacramento.
Neifer praised the Oroville City firefighters’ Union for their donation and presented them with a bronze-colored statue of a firefighter to thank them for their support.
The Oroville firefighters raised the funds through their annual Firefighter Chili Cookoff during Feather Fiesta Days.
“We want the public to know how important the money is from our annual chili cookoff,” said Engineer Bud Englund. “We work hard to raise these funds for the kids at burn camp and now we’re donating funds for the burn center that serves everyone in Northern California, including us should we ever need them. And, we’ve been raising funds through our annual chili cook-off for 21 years,” Englund said.
In 2005, Oroville firefighters generously gave $10,000 to sponsor kids at burn camp, Neifer said.
Englund thanked all those who support their annual chili-cook off, including the fire agencies who send teams to participate every year during Feather Fiesta Days.
Fire agencies who participate in the chili cook off include El Medio Fire and CAL Fire/Butte County Fire. Other participants include Butte County volunteers, and firefighters from Berry Creek and Red Bluff, among other areas.
“The firefighters from Red Bluff support the chili-cook off every year and have been involved since the beginning,” Englund said. The Oroville Police also contribute a team to the chili cook off, he added.
Englund especially thanks Butte Community Bank and Gold County Casino for their sponsorship.
The Firefighters Burn Institute is a nonprofit organization founded by the Sacramento Area firefighters Local 522 in 1973, to establish a local burn treatment facility; provide recovery programs for burn survivors; promote fire and burn prevention through public education; fund education for medical burn team professionals and firefighters; and support burn treatment and rehabilitation research.
It was in 1972, when an airplane attempting to take off from Sacramento Executive Airport crashed into a crowded Farrell’s Ice Cream parlor killing 22 people and burning many others. A Sacramento firefighter, Gene Levine, and eight members of his family died in this fiery crash, according to the Firefighters Burn Institute’s literature.
Shortly after the crash, Sacramento Area Firefighters Union established the Firefighters Burn Institute. Cliff Haskell, a captain with Sacramento Fire Department, was named executive director. Haskell headed the Firefighters Burn Institute for the next 26 years.
The UC Davis Medical Center Regional Burn Center opened its doors in January 1974, because of the burn institute’s efforts.
The Firefighters Burn Institute has expand its mission over the years and now firefighters are stepping forward once again to take the lead in raising funds for a new Regional Burn Center at UC Davis, Neifer said.
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