The Firefighters Burn Institute was founded in 1973, after the tragic jet plane crash into Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlor in South Sacramento that took the lives of 23 people. There was no burn care in Sacramento at that time. Captain Cliff Haskell of the Sacramento Fire Department along with Sacramento Area Fire Fighters, Local 522 founded FFBI with a goal of establishing a local burn treatment facility in Sacramento. About one year later Sacramento’s first burn unit was established at U.C. Davis Medical Center.
Yes, the FFBI is a well-established nonprofit 501(C)3 charitable organization. FFBI meets the Northeast California Better Business Bureau standards for ethical conduct and charitable accountability.
FFBI has a yearly audit performed to ensure that each dollar raised will be used for its intended purpose. You can feel confident when you give to FFBI knowing that over 90% of every dollar spent goes towards burn care, recovery, prevention, research, education, and outreach.
Although firefighters are a major part of the Firefighters Burn Institute, FFBI provides burn survivor program support and prevention/education services to the entire community.