Amber Willard
BURBANK -- Fire engines with lights flashing are not an unusual sight
in the city. But a slow-moving caravan of engines and trucks, lead by
Burbank police and Californian Highway Patrol officers on motorcycles,
drew attention from pedestrians and motorists Tuesday as it cruised
through town.
The trucks weren't headed to a fire or part of a parade -- they were
raising money for Firefighters Quest for Burn Survivors.
The nonprofit group was created in 1996 by area firefighters to help
co-workers who were badly burned by Malibu wildfires. Since then, it has
grown to help other burn survivors and their families both financially
and emotionally.
"One-hundred percent of what we get, every last penny, goes to burn
survivors," said Glendale Fire Capt. Thomas Marchant, one of the
organizers of the weeklong rally.
The caravan, called Quest Rally, is the group's biggest fund raiser
with 65 fire and law enforcement officials traveling the state
relay-style. Volunteers pass dignitaries like former weatherman Dr.
George Fishbeck instead of batons and make designated stops to pick up
donations.
After collecting $1,000 Tuesday from Fire Fighters Local 778 and $250
from Mayor Bill Wiggins' business on the steps of Burbank Police/Fire
Headquarters, the caravan moved on to Burbank Airport as well as the Walt
Disney and Warner Bros. studios to collect more donations. By the end of
the day, they were approaching the $30,000 mark, with three days still to
come. Last year, the rally raised $40,000, Marchant said.
Traveling with Quest was Chad Dillon, who received burns to more than
half of his body in a November airplane crash. The 27-year-old Dillon,
who grew up in Chatsworth, returned home from Washington D.C. for
treatment at the Grossman Burn Center in Sherman Oaks. The center is one
of Quest's beneficiaries.
In a survivors support group, he met Bill Jensen, a Glendale fire
fighter who was burned in the Malibu fires.
"I went (on the rally) all four years," Jensen said. "My heart needed
to go."
The rally started Monday in Santa Maria and traveled south through
Santa Barbara before picking up Tuesday in Pasadena. The group will
journey into San Bernardino County before ending Friday in Orange County.
For information, or to make a donation, call 548-3311 or visit
www.firefightersquest.org .
