Delta firefighters show a lot of heart

Firefighters from the Delta Fire Department raised $100,000 to help fund the new Burn Fund Centre in Vancouver.

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Firefighters from Delta have contributed $100,000 to fund one of eight accommodation units at the new $13.1 million Burn Fund Centre to be built by the B.C. Professional Fire Fighters’ Burn Fund at 3891 Main Street in Vancouver.

Firefighters from Delta, Burnaby, Cranbrook, Kamloops, Kelowna, North Vancouver District, Richmond and Surrey combined for a total contribution of $675,000.

“We’ve seen firsthand that helping with accommodation for burn and trauma survivors and their families can be one of the most significant contributions to help survivors physically and emotionally recover and live a full life,” says Mike Hurley, President of the Burn Fund. “We’re so grateful that the Fire Fighters in Delta have shown such leadership in helping us meet this critical need.”

The province is experiencing a critical shortfall in accommodation for burn and trauma patients and their family caregivers. Patients’ health may be compromised when they have to return home sooner than medically advised or live in accommodations not suited to recovery from a burn or trauma. Each year almost 700 children and adults from across the province are admitted to the BCPFF Burn, Plastic and Trauma Unit at Vancouver General Hospital and B.C. Children’s Hospital suffering serious trauma. Cases from outside the

Lower Mainland make up 27 per cent of cases, and 60 per cent of those are paying for private sector accommodation for an average of eight weeks.

The new $13.1 million Burn Fund Centre will provide eight short-term stay units to meet the critical shortfall in appropriate accommodation for burn and trauma patients and their family caregivers. The Centre will also house the offices of the B.C. Professional Fire Fighters Association and Burn Fund and include ground floor retail space to help fund the ongoing operation of the building. The Burn Fund has secured 80 per cent of necessary funding and is currently in the midst of a capital campaign.

“Nobody plans to be a burn survivor”, points out Lisa Lacamell, Executive Director of the Burn Fund. “But when it happens, your family’s life is turned inside out in a matter of seconds. With our contributions to research, patient care, survivor support and prevention we’re trying to give British Columbians their best chance, the Burn Fund Centre is the missing piece of that legacy.”

The B.C. Professional Fire Fighters’ Burn Fund has been providing prevention and survivor support programs, and funding medical care, training and research to the people of British Columbia and the Yukon for almost four decades. The Burn Fund’s vision is built by more than 3,800 professional fire fighters from 53 communities in British Columbia and the Yukon who graciously dedicate their funds, time and expertise.