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Fire personnel greeted Burn Quest with a $501 donation from the Santa Paula Fire Fighters Association when the caravan stopped at Station 1 on May 8.
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Burn Quest: Annual caravan for burn
victims stops at SPFD Station 1
May 16, 2014
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula News
The 18th Annual Burn Quest caravan roared into town with sirens blaring May 8 to make a stop at Santa Paula Fire Station 1 and pick up a generous donation to help those with serious burns.
Fire Chief Rick Araiza said the Santa Paula Fire Fighters Association had a $501 check to present to Burn Quest representatives, including Glendale Firefighter Bill Jensen, who received 3rd degree burns over 70 percent of his body while fighting a Malibu brushfire in 1996. Jensen-initially given a 5 percent chance of survival-was the most seriously injured of the six firefighters that were caught in a firestorm.
After three months of surgeries, care and treatment and the miraculous efforts of those who cared for him, Bill beat the five percent chance of survival and was released from the burn center on his birthday.
Following the Malibu fire incident the nonprofit Burn Quest was formed and it is managed by dedicated firefighters and civilians who volunteer their services to assist those who have been affected by burn injuries. The organization hosts several fundraisers throughout each year in which donations are received and distributed on behalf of each donor to local burn centers and foundations as well as to burn survivors and their families.
Araiza believes SPFD got involved in the annual Burn Quest “Pretty darn close to the beginning,” of Burn Quest’s formation.
“I was an assistant chief at the time,” and Araiza said he remembers Burn Quest visits that included famed television weathermen Dr. George Fishbeck and Dallas Raines.
SPFFA President Andy VanSciver said the May 8 Burn Quest visit was the sixth he has been personally involved in.
This year’s caravan included two engines from Ventura County Fire and one unit each from Fillmore City and California Forestry and Fire Protection out of the Los Padres National Forest.
Burn Quest is a relay of fire engines and units; as each caravan reaches a new fire station, one breaks away to return to its station replaced by one provided by the newly visited department.
He noted that this year’s event was somewhat different: “When the caravan left,” accompanied by two SPFD engines, one of which broke away to return to the station when city limits were reached, the second helped Burn Quest make a special stop at the East Ventura home of Kevin Corbett.
A Santa Barbara City Firefighter, Corbett, who started his public service career with the SPFD, is battling cancer.
To find out more about Burn Quest, call toll free (866) 937-8378, or visit the website: www.firefightersquest.org
