When flames ravage through Southern Nevada homes, those living outside the immediate neighborhoods might only learn vague details about injuries or an estimate of monetary damages. In the aftermath of fatal fires, they often only get to read follow-up news stories that sometimes only identify the victims.
The general public is not always privy to the devastation the traumatic events can cause so they can't offer the assistance that's needed.
That's where The Firefighters of Southern Nevada Burn Foundation, a nonprofit that comprises active firefighters who provide support to victims who’ve been injured or lost family homes and belongings, comes in.
“If something catastrophic does happen, they’re able to provide some sort of normalcy again for the family, because as soon as that event happens … it’s chaotic,” said Clark County Fire Department firefighter Amanda Snider, 29. "It definitely impacts their lives in more than just a physical way.”
On July 16, the foundation will host the “Underground Repeal Firefighter Auction,” its biggest fundraiser of the year.
Snider and 13 of her fellow firefighters will play the parts of bachelors and bachelorettes at the auction. Winning bidders will have the chance to hang out with the firefighters.
Proceeds from the event, scheduled from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. at The Space Las Vegas venue, 3460 Cavaretta Court, will fund the Burn Survivor Initiative. Twice a year, the program sends children affected by fires to a summer and winter camp, which usually take place in Southern California and Northern Nevada. The proceeds will also help pay for burn victims to attend an annual conference.
Attendees at the auction also will have the opportunity to bid on other items, including packages in which the winner and half a dozen of their friends or family members will be invited to Las Vegas Valley fire stations to enjoy firefighter-cooked dinners, said Robert Acevedo, secretary of the nonprofit's board and an engineer with the Nevada National Security Site Fire & Rescue.
The nature of the firefighters' job creates gifted cooks.
Cody Milner, a bachelor at the fundraiser and Acevedo’s professional colleague at the test site, mentioned the meat smokers and flat cooking tops their station houses.
The firefighters take their cooking "pretty seriously,” joked Milner, 25, because those who can’t cook oversee the dirty dishes.
Thousands of children across the U.S. suffer from burns each year. “These scars must be worn physically and emotionally for the remainder of their lives,” the foundation’s organization says on its website.
The foundation was granted nonprofit status in 2003. Since then, its volunteers have hosted yearly toy drives around the winter holidays. In 2020, about 26,000 underprivileged children received toys, Acevedo, 40, said.
The foundation also provides temporary financial support for those who’ve lost possessions in fires. If for some reason the foundation can’t help, they put them in touch with community partners, such as the American Red Cross of Southern Nevada, Acevedo said.
The foundation and the Las Vegas Fashion Council also conduct flip-flop drives to give footwear to the homeless. Before an interview for this story last week, Snider and Milner had just gotten back from passing out the footwear.
Most people take for granted owning multiple pairs of shoes and not having to walk around barefoot on burning ground, Milner said. “I can’t imagine.”
“A lot of people think firefighters are there and then we leave, and that’s it,” Acevedo said about his profession. “It’s more than just showing up and putting out a fire, you know?”
Although she didn’t immediately realize it, becoming a firefighter was Snider’s calling. Her grandfather, father and uncle also have served in the Clark County Fire Department.
“It’s kind of that extra pride for me wanting to keep making them proud,” said Snider, who was born and raised in Las Vegas.
The former soccer player wanted to be a marine biologist and got a college degree in Colorado. For a while she used the degree at local aquarians, but then decided to become a firefighter 16 months ago.
Snider went “from one element to the exact opposite,” she quipped.
Milner, a Green Valley High School graduate, went on to the College of Southern Nevada, where he played baseball and obtained a degree in fire sciences.
A high school baseball coach, who was also a firefighter, thought Milner would make a good fit in the profession, and he was further convinced by a cousin who’s now a colleague at the test site. Milner has been a firefighter for four years.
Acevedo described himself as the “oddball” in his family of police officers. He’s been in the profession, which started in Southern California 14 years ago.
For the trio of firefighters, their sense of community service transcends their normal day-to-day jobs, they said.
The auction event helped the foundation raise $60,000 last year, when it held it remotely due to the pandemic. And it broke a record a couple years ago, when more than $100,000 was raised, said Acevedo, noting that they hope to raise even more this year.
Despite the light teasing from their colleagues for volunteering to be a bachelor and bachelorette, Milner and Snider said their firehouse roommates are excited and fully supportive.
“These kids have a hard time, so just making them feel like a normal kid and making their lives a little bit easier and having fun for a week would be something awesome,” said Milner about raising funds for the camps.
“Vegas is my home — I was born and raised here — so anything I can do to give back to them,” Snider said. “I’m going to do it.”
For more information on the organization and the upcoming fundraiser, visit: theburnfoundation.org.