Burn foundation sought to help local victims

Burn victims may soon have a new ally in their fight for a normal life, as local groups work to bring a chapter of the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation to Las Vegas.

"The paperwork's been filed, but we sure could use the money to support the programs," said University Medical Center Burn Care Coordinator Diana Grimmesey.

Programs would be geared toward burn prevention as well as support for victims.

"We don't just want to save them from a fire," Clark County Fire Dept. Captain Joe Planck said. "We also want to address their needs after they leave our care."

Shelley Blackburn has volunteered with Clark County firefighters to help burn victims since county firefighters saved her life during a September 1993 fire.

"It's really hard as a burn victim to go out 'as your new self'" Blackburn said. "To have support and to have a place to go where people can relate and help you is great."

Blackburn has been attending support meetings at UMC. Now she's joined Clark County firefighters, the UMC staff and members of the Burn Foundation to bring a chapter of the foundation to Nevada.

"People can really be very devastated by fires. For survivors there's so much loss: the loss of family members, homes, possessions," Grimmesey said.

The most important factor is probably the emotional loss, she said.

"These people are physically scarred and they have to live with their scars for the rest of their lives," Grimmesey said.

Originators of the "Stop, Drop and Roll" concept, the Burn Foundation was formed in 1971 by a Los Angeles family which lost an 8-year-old girl, Alisa Ann Ruch, to a fire caused by a common barbecue accident, said Alison Gresen Clark, a first cousin of Ruch and Las Vegas resident.

The foundation has five chapters, all in California.

"Captain Planck was the one who really wanted to bring it here," said Grimmesey. "We've been seriously discussing it for two years."

One of Planck's ideas is for the Burn Foundation to send burn victim's families on short vacations like a weekend at Disneyland, Grimmesey said.

"We've had more than 300 children as burn victims this year, and since it's only September, we'll have close to 500 by the end of the year," Grimmesey said.

The foundation would help area fire departments and the school district prevent children from being burned through prevention and awareness programs like "Stop, Drop and Roll," Clark said.

Because children with burn scars are often the victims of cruel teasing and alienation, the Burn Foundation has programs designed to help children successfully re-enter school, Clark said.

So far fund-raising for the foundation has consisted of a bake sale at UMC and a car wash by Clark County firefighters.

Hoping to retire the bake sales and car washes, the foundation is raising money through other avenues.

"Siegfried and Roy have promised to do some benefits for us," Clark said.

Donations can be sent to Clark County Fire Department, Attn.: Steve La-Sky, 575 E. Flamingo Rd., Las Vegas, NV 89119.

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