Gustine firefighters took to the streets on Saturday to participate in the annual fill the boot. The fundraising effort goes toward the Firefighters Burn Institute.

The Firefighters Burn Institute was born out a tragic incident. In 1972, a jet airplane attempting to take off from Sacramento Executive Airport crashed into a crowded Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlor killing 23 people and burning many others. A Sacramento firefighter, Gene LaVine, and eight members of his family died in the fiery crash. Shortly after, Sacramento Fire Department Captain Cliff Haskell convinced the Sacramento Area Fire Fighters, Local 522 to allow him to begin work establishing a specialized burn unit for the area. Cliff’s initial fundraising campaigns formed the FFBI in December 1973.

FFBI’s goal was to help establish a local burn treatment facility in the Sacramento area. Shortly after its founding, FFBI collaborated with physicians and administration at the University of California Davis Medical Center to open the UCDMC Regional Burn Center in January of 1974. Over the years, FFBI has expanded its mission to include burn research, public education, fire and burn prevention and burn recovery for survivors and their families, which extends far beyond the firefighting community to all burn survivors.