Crews from Pahrump Valley Fire and Rescue Services, along with members from the Firefighters of Southern Nevada’s Burn Foundation, offered their respective services to aid a local woman in need of assistance.
As stated in its mission statement, whenever firefighters are faced with a burn victim or family in need of support, they contact a representative of the burn foundation to assist.
That endeavor was on full display on Friday, May 7, when a burn survivor sought help with a Pahrump residence she inherited from her late father.
As a result, upward of a dozen area firefighters descended upon the Whirlwind Street home to help essentially clean both the interior and exterior of the residence, according to Brennan Farmer, who is a board member with the foundation.
The female, who chose to remain anonymous, learned of the foundation while attending a summer camp for burn survivors in Canada.
“The female who inherited this property is a burn survivor, now in her 20’s,” Farmer said. “She wasn’t sure what she wanted to do with it, but ultimately she wanted to sell the property. There was no actual fire at this residence, but this burn survivor currently resides in California but stays connected through burn camps that we do every summer. When she was younger, she stayed in contact with some of the firefighters in Canada, who reached out to firefighters in Southern Nevada, and we decided that we wanted to help in any way that we could, cleaning up the property and throwing away unwanted stuff.”
Not everything on the property was deemed trash and junk according to International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), Local 4068 President Justin Snow.
Much of the haul was golf clubs, bicycles and other personal property, including furniture.
“We’re basically going through all her sheds on the property and in the house and throw away anything she wants us to,” Snow said. “We’ve got a big pile there that we’re gonna try to donate to either the coalition in Pahrump or some of the animal shelters if they want it, so she can sell the place and then move on. We have a really good turnout and we got permission from Chief Lewis to stay for a couple hours and we are making real good progress. Of course it’s up to the lady who owns this property to determine where she wants everything to go.”
Farmer, meanwhile, noted that those who are in a similar situation as a result of a catastrophic fire can also seek assistance through the foundation.
“Ultimately, that’s what we’re here for, and they can go to our website, the burnfoundation.org,” he said. “They can reach out to us personally on that website and any way that we can help out the community, we’re more than willing to help out, whether it’s a burn survivor or tragic event that they just need help with. They can also reach out to the IAFF Pahrump Fire Fighters Local 4068.”
For additional information on the Firefighters of Southern Nevada Burn Foundation, login to www.theburnfoundation.org, email Justin Snow at wljsnow@hotmail.com, or call 702-485-6820.
Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @pvtimes