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Please Join Or Renew ...................................................................................................................................................... OUTREACH AND RECOVERY Vicki has asked me to create a branch of WFF that is exclusively focused on healing your heart. The crippling pain of losses of any kind, rob us of quality of life and even when we feel that we don’t have the energy to regain that strength, here is your opportunity to do just that. We’re here. We’re walking with you every step of the way and the friendship is unconditional. The pain of loss of life, loss of lifestyle, loss of dreams, loss of a relationship, a job or position within a company, or loss of a marriage leaves our hearts and heads feeling helpless and so deeply damaged. We want to help you move beyond the pain of your loss so that you can enjoy the happy memories, look forward to happy tomorrows and regain your ability to take a breath without the knee-buckling pain that has left you feeling empty and without energy. Outreach recovery programs are currently in progress and not exclusive to the Boise, Idaho area and in Eastern Oregon. The recovery programs are for families and colleagues of fallen fire fighters, they are for fire fighters who have come out of a high stress firefighting season or going into another year and they are for families and friends of firefighters. It doesn’t matter how long ago or how recently, you experienced a life-altering change. Loss hurts and we will work together to take those steps towards healing and strengthening. We are your soft place to fall and hang onto until you are ready to let go and fly on your own. WFF embraces this opportunity to share with you and yours, a soft place to fall whenever you need us. I am ready to come to your area for a “getting acquainted recovery weekend”. I am only an email or phone call away. Unconditional love, support, strengthening, caring, and healing for you and yours from Wildland Firefighters Foundation spreads like wildfire. Compassion spreads like wildfire. Sherrie Kvamme email: familyoutreach@wffoundation.org Or call: 541-893-6315 or 208 908-3360. If I am on the other line, the phone will go to voicemail. Please leave a message and your phone number. You’ll hear from me very soon. Or email me! I’m looking forward to hearing from you and getting acquainted! “ I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO VISITING WITH YOU ON FAMILY DAY IN MAY” Care of Burned Wildland Firefighters
Our wildland firefighters’ injuries happen in rural areas, where firefighters are taken to small town hospitals and are, in most cases, under-diagnosed. Chris Fry and Austin Berrigan were burned last year in the Mud Fire near Elko, Nevada. They were sent to an Elko hospital for treatment and released with minor burns. When they returned home, Chris’s burns were becoming so painful he went to the emergency room at Sherman Oaks Hospital and was immediately admitted. He had several skin grafts and has lost some of the mobility in his elbow. Austin was being seen as an outpatient in Fresno. We were asked to visit these firefighters. Trenton, Austin's supervisor, encouraged Austin to go to the emergency room at Sherman Oaks Hospital. He was admitted immediately and skin grafts were started on his hands. Austin said there was no comparison to the level of care he received at a verified burn center versus what he had at the local Fresno hospital. This seems to be the plight of our burned wildland firefighters; under-diagnosed, sent home too early, and not being seen or treated by burn specialists. Recently, within three days, there were nine burn-overs and three aviation accidents. Our priority is to see that these firefighters are taken to a verified burn center in the Western United States. If the people at these fires had enough knowledge to follow through in getting the injured to a verified burn center, treatment would be swift and the best possible care ensured. Some do, but many don’t know the difference between a regular hospital and a verified burn center. If you are involved in any way in a burn over, please follow through by getting these burned firefighters into a verified burn center, not just a local hospital. When proper treatment is not given, firefighters are out the whole season and possibly the rest of their firefighting career. It doesn’t matter the agency or employer, these firefighters need to be seen at verified burn centers. Our “Firefighter Down” program is tracking burned and injured firefighters throughout the year, helping with financial expenses incurred by their families, offering advocacy, and getting support from other injured firefighters. Under this program, we are also retaining a OWCP Specialist Lawyer. The Wildland Firefighter Foundation is very fortunate to receive assistance from individual donors and businesses that are compelled to provide financial support for our wildland community. If you've seen our website lately, you'll see our efforts to let you folks know who is supporting your Foundation. We have never wanted to operate with a sense of entitlement. Our efforts for the community have always been to be there when a fatality or injury occurs, to operate the Foundation in a manner of integrity and stability. The business donors we receive funds from are making those donations not because we're a non-profit or they get a tax write off, they do it because they support you, the wildland firefighter. They know that someone needs to step in and help when there is a need. We know our role in this partnership - we are the funnel to make sure those needs are met. As the Foundation continues to grow and more of you individually step up and join the 52 Club, the more we build this community. Your efforts do not go unnoticed. We appreciate your support and want to remind each of you we value you, encourage you to have input, and seek your ongoing involvement with us. Vicki always reminds each of us that this Foundation "came up from the ashes and dirt, on the backs of the wildland firefighter." Those words are an awesome reminder that we're here for you, providing support that only a small, grassroots non-profit can. As we receive requests to present to various divisions, departments, and trade show groups, we feel the responsibility to tell the stories of the firefighters whose photos are on our walls, who have paid the ultimate price. We remind the families that we are here to tell their stories. Thank you for your support. Be safe! ...................................................................................................................................................... When I accepted Vicki's offer to work at the Wildland Firefighter Foundation, I had no idea that this would be the job that wasn't just an "occupation" or a "paycheck". In my 15+ years of non-profit work (including working for two nationally known non-profits) I have never been so enveloped and passionate about the work that I do. I've been asked by my family and friends how I can work somewhere that deals with such sorrow (the photos on our walls move them to tears). Emotions do run high, the main mission of what we do is difficult and the grief can be overwhelming. But, in that sadness, we meet some amazing families who share their stories and become more than "survivor family members", they become our friends and family. Being part of this organization, I feel the most important job I have is sharing the stories of fallen and injured firefighters and their families to anyone that stops by, that I meet at a trade show or conference, anyone that calls, and in every piece of work I produce. I've repeatedly told the story of Levi and Joe Brinkley: two amazing brothers, two amazing firefighters - one who was lost eleven years ago and one that was injured and very nearly lost this summer. I've had the good fortune of meeting Shane Heath's (Cramer Fire fatality) younger brother who spent a whole day at the Foundation before leaving for college last fall, he needed to stop in and talk about Shane. I've spent time talking to Brent Martindale hearing more about his son Jacob (Hayman Fire van accident) and his love of music, or talking to my friend and "52 Run Cheerleader" Lori Greeno (Lori lost her husband John a year ago), about her amazing fortitude and desire to support and spread the word of the Foundation, which is helping her to heal. The people and friendships I have made keep me drawn to the Foundation and to this community. My life has been forever changed because of these amazing families. I make it my personal mission each day to support them and work for them. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your lives. ...................................................................................................................................................... Who Are These Guys? I woke up early this morning. In the dark. With a phfrase sounding in my brain, a question. What manner of men are these? I knew that it was about Dan and firefighters, and as the morning went on, I knew that it was the wrong question. It was familiar, but I didn't know the source. It was too refined, too elegant, too sexist. I played with it, went away, drank coffee, came back to it. From a movie, yes. Butch said to Sundance, "Who are these guys?" It was the right question. Does the word "guys" include women? Ask any waitress. Yes, it does. Then came the others. The related questions. Who the Hell runs INTO a burning forest? Who straps on an eighty pound pack, and parachutes out of a perfectly functioning aircraft onto a forest fire? WHO ARE THESE GUYS? Who drives fire equipment up a mountain road so narrow, that in the words of Louis L'Amour "You've got one stirrup hanging out in space." Who DOES that? I've seen the documentaries on C-Span and PBS with the reporters and cameramen out on the firelines. The ones where firefighters armed with chainsaws and pulaskis go into battle with fires so itense that they create their own weather systems. The documentaries where every firefighter interview generates the same quotes - "I would not do any other job." "I'd hate doing anything else." "I can't wait for the phone to ring with a fire call." "Look at this country, who'd want to be anywhere else?" The one's where the reporter looks into the camera with an expression of awe and disbelief, and says "How do I describe them? The word heroic would offend them. They'd never admit to that. They might accept being described as adventurous, though that is an understatement of major proportions. Is it addictive, being a firefighter? Betcha ass, baby! The dust and the ash, the smell of the smoke, also the rash of the poison oak. All of it is embraced! WHO ARE THESE GUYS? The sounds of a fire build through the day. The squawk of the radio - the instructions given in the early times building gradually to late afternoon, when it is a cacophony of noise-nature combining the sounds of wind, the snap of lightning, the boom of thunder, and the roar of the fire, to act in counterpoint to the man-made sounds of tankers dropping retardant, Caterpillar engines, the whop-whop-whop of the choppers, and the snarl of a chainsaw. The sound diminishes slowly to the quiet of midnight. Hopefully, the fire lays down at night, and, at times, you get a silence so deep that it won't let you sleep. WHO ARE THESE GUYS? Who calls you at midnight on Tuesday night and announces in a cheerful voice that they are already on overtime, and that they are spiked out at 10,000 feet? (Spiked out means that you've camped with the supplies you carried in on your back. No hot meal, becuase you are too removed from the base. And that's WAY better than coyote camp, when you simply drop from exhaustion, and sleep where you are when the relief crew shows up.) To keep up morale, every so often, God will reward them a sunset so peaceful and perfect that it couldn't be real and it's gone in a moment-did that really happen? WHO ARE THESE GUYS? How do you maintain emergency vehicles that may be used routinely for weeks or months, and then be required to act as high performance vehicles, such as in a chase? The better question is how do you maintain workers who will be required to go from routine, mundane tasks, to full adrenaline load instantly? Repeatedly. Do you wonder that heart attacks kill as often as vehicles? WHO ARE THESE GUYS? November nears and the season slows. How long does it take, at the end of fire season, for your mind and your body to adjust back to reason? It only compares, I think, to combat. Total attention to this and to that. All hope of survival, needs rest and revival. In March and in April, the calls go out, and just as sure as the seasons, back they troop; full of smartass, and full of poop. WHO ARE THESE GUYS? I've asked the question several times. The answer comes back the same to me, time after time after time, ONLY THE BEST! The good and the better need not apply. Only the best hang with these guys. ONLY THE BEST. These thoughts are offered as a sign of respect to all who embrace the dirt and the ash, the smell of the smoke, and the poison oak. What wildland firefighters do for a living not only excites respect and admiration in reporters, but in dads who are native to the Great Plains, and have never seen a fireline. These words are dedicated to the memory of the life and career of Daniel Rama, 1974-2002. SON, BROTHER, FRIEND ...................................................................................................................................................... Where Does Your Money Go? More than $30 of your 52 Club Membership goes directly to help families of fallen and injured wildland firefighters. Everyone would like to think that 100% of their donation goes directly to the people we serve. No one wants to help pay the rent, lights, or other necessary expenses. However, those expenses are necessary, and this Foundation strives to keep very low overhead. We have 2.5 paid employees and one volunteer that answer phone calls, keep in daily contact with 100 survivor family members, mail orders from our website, process 52 Club Memberships, correspond and reply to inquiries with a number of private, public, and government agencies. We attend several industry related conferences throughout the year. And, we work closely with spouses as they go through the process of getting, or appealing PSOBs, and provide a helping hand to contract employers as they help spouses apply for benefits. To give you an even better idea as to where your money goes, here’s a breakdown:
These are just a few examples of where your money goes. We haven’t scratched the surface as to the ongoing help we provide to our families as they continue to live each day with their loss. We receive no federal, city, or state money. Our funding comes from you – we work for you – our efforts are for you. The gratitude for your donation doesn’t come from us it comes from the families, the families that you have directly helped at a time in their lives when they are suffering the greatest loss they will ever know. For them, we thank you. ...................................................................................................................................................... Please Join Or Renew It’s a New Year and we’re reminding you that we need your 52 Club memberships. When we started this membership drive last spring, we didn’t give too much thought to year number two, and here we are! Your membership is an annual opportunity to give and be a part of something big. We’re counting on all 1,200 of you currently on the 52 list to renew your membership commitment to the wildland firefighting community and we want to see a WHOLE LOT MORE OF YOU! Now, probably more than ever, we need the support of EVERYONE in the firefighting community. As most of you know, last year was a pretty slow fire season – that means fewer opportunities for us to get out in fire camps to meet each of you - and raise funds. Although it was a slow season, unfortunately we did have some fatalities. We were busy passing on help from our wonderful wildland firefighting community to families of firefighters like Daniel Holmes, Bill Baxter, Alan Toepke, and sending statues to those just mentioned, and more killed in the line of duty like Eva Schicke, Mike Ward, and Randy Hoffman. This year, with the help of the Wildland Firefighting Community, we were also able to:
Our hope is to build up our funds so that money is available to provide scholarships and educational opportunities for the children that are left behind. If you are a parent of a wildland firefighter, we especially appeal to you. Your 52 Club membership ensures that we are able to help all parents when they lose a child. We not only provide money to pay for those unforeseen expenses, but we are here to help through the emotional turmoil that is a part of death. Remember, you’ll receive a pin, patch, helmet sticker, and your name listed on our website when you become a member. Thank you and our very best to you and yours in 2005! ...................................................................................................................................................... Growing Compassion... A commissary contractor working the fire woke before daylight to find a camp in mourning and purple ribbons tied around every tree. Fourteen firefighters had just perished in Colorado on the unforgiving face of Storm King Mountain. The contractor remembers standing by her rig and looking up at the pre-dawn sky. “Help me help your families,” she whispered to the stars. She didn’t know how; she just knew she would. Vicki Minor is that kind of woman—a woman without education who started Northwest Contractors with $58 and grew it to more than a half-million dollars in just six weeks of providing services and goods to firefighters in the camps. On the other side of the camp, Oklahoma hotshot crewmember Merlin Orange took out a sheet of notebook paper and began to sketch as his fellow firefighters sat in a circle around him. When he was finished, they blessed the drawing with a smudge of sweet grass and sage, and took it to Minor. She printed the image on T-shirts—a line of firefighters marching up the mountain into the sky—and raised $108,000 to help the families. The seed had sprouted, but its future remained far from certain. Minor and the growing number of friends and workers who had raised the money wanted to make sure the families of the firefighters who had sacrificed their lives would receive emergency financial and emotional support. That’s how the idea of a foundation just for wildland firefighters took hold. Minor and her gang have been raising money and helping families ever since, even though the Wildland Firefighter Foundation didn’t become an official 501c3 until 1999. Minor, with no experience in managing a nonprofit foundation, was named executive director. It hasn’t been easy. With the number of firefighter fatalities and serious injuries that have occurred in the 10 years since Storm King, Minor’s Foundation has distributed more than a quarter-million dollars to surviving families. Sometimes the need exceeds the Foundation’s resources. Last year Minor had to turn down a request for help because the “jar” was empty. “I never again want to have to tell a family that I can’t help them,” she says. That vow meant that the woman who had to learn to get up in front of a room full of people to ask for money is experiencing another “opportunity for personal growth,” as she calls it. She and the Foundation have launched a vigorous campaign to raise $1 million. She calls it The Power of One, a beautifully simple concept in which a person contributes $1 a week for 52 weeks to gain membership in the new 52 Club. When multiplied by some 20,000 firefighters in the field, this campaign will raise more than $1 million dollars for helping families, maintaining the Foundation’s National Wildland Firefighter Monument and educating the public about the role wildland firefighters play in protecting our natural resources and homes in the wildland-urban interface. The campaign is taking off. Contract firefighting companies are challenging each other to match dollars contributed by their firefighters. Hotshot crews are enthusiastic about participating. The Lolo Hotshots in Montana are sending an extra donation with its 52 Club pledges. Industries and associations, such as the National Tree Fallers Association, are contributing as well. Corporations, especially those who profit from supplying the firefighting industry, are invited to step up and contribute generously. The heart of the foundation is in Boise, Idaho, just a Pulaski throw from the National Wildland Firefighter Monument created by the Foundation and the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC). Bill Mitchell maintains the monument grounds without compensation. Don Smurthwaite, BLM External Affairs Officer for NIFC, says he and Mitchell write letters to the families to let them know that a marker has been placed in their loved one’s name. The Foundation also presents each family with a replica of one of the bronze firefighter statues. “This is a place where the families continue to come long after the casserole dishes are empty and the sympathy cards have stopped arriving,” says Minor. “They visit the monument and come by the office just to talk to us.” When a firefighter dies or suffers serious injuries, the Foundation sends an emergency grant to their immediate family to help with expenses. According to Minor, the money is especially important for spouses and children of fallen firefighters who may have been the main breadwinner. (She says death benefits and other assistance may not kick in for months.) The Foundation also helps families connect with other services to assist with the grief and all the practical questions that arise with such a loss. “Our connection with the families really never stops,” says Minor. “Long after the check is cashed, the emotional connection and support goes on … as long as they want it.” Minor says The Power of One multiplied by all the wildland firefighters on the line and the generosity of a grateful public will ensure the families left behind will be taken care of by the community their fallen firefighters served with. I don’t doubt it for a minute. ...................................................................................................................................................... Healing Hearts In September, we were able to host five families that suffered losses at the Hayman Fire (Grayback Forestry) in June of 2002. A need to talk to each other led the families to organize a special day of sharing and bonding. We were honored to be able to provide lunch and a gathering place for these families. The tragedy that brought them together, has now served to help move them into a new realm of healing. Mothers and fathers laughed, talked about their children, and told stories that only another parent who has been through the same heart-wrenching event could understand. Stories shared of their child’s “firsts” and futures that were so promised. As I looked across the room, I saw such love and relief in those faces - this was a safe and encouraging place to talk about their kids. Two years ago there was too much pain. We learned that families want to come together. There is an energy that helps them heal as they share. We are working on an annual event to be hosted by the Wildland Firefighter Foundation where fallen firefighter’s families can come and be with each other. An event that encourages them to talk, share, ask questions, and heal. We are honored to host and be the catalyst that will make this happen. The Storm King families have told us that the gift they got out of their loss was the other families. Our community’s Foundation will help pay the expenses for this family gathering – all of the families. To support them, we will need as many of you on the 52 list as possible. Whenever we send out a statue or financial help, we always say this is from every Wildland Firefighter across our Nation. It’s been a slow fire season, but there have been casualties and injuries, and our resources have become very limited. A slow season means fewer camps for us to visit and: fewer memberships; less merchandise sold; and, fewer dollars available to families. Those of you who have joined the 52 Club are not only helping families with financial help in their time of immediate need, but we as a community are creating a place for families to heal, help each other along, and provide a safe place for families to begin that healing journey. Thank you for your support of the work that goes on here. Remember, the power of one does make a difference. Learn more about the 52 by clicking here.
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