Countywide : They’re Not Just Raising Money

Firefighters Ron Wilson and Mike Barnes climbed a 35-foot ladder Wednesday to begin a bone-chilling four-day endurance test to raise money for burn victims.

By the time the two descend Saturday, they hope to have raised $20,000 to help pay for rehabilitation programs and medical treatment for children and adults who have suffered disfiguring burns.

“They tell us it gets real cold up here at night,” said Wilson, 40, a paramedic engineer for the La Habra Fire Department. To combat the chill, the two have uniform jackets and a supply of blankets. Meals will be carried up to them.

The annual Snorkel Sit is sponsored by the nonprofit Orange County Burn Assn.

While Wilson and Barnes tough it out in the snorkel--the basket at the end of the ladder--their colleagues will be stationed at the Fair Drive entrance to the Orange County Fairgrounds, where they will use firefighter boots to collect donations.

Said Barnes, 35, a Costa Mesa firefighter: “We’ll survive.”

Survival is the watchword for the event, in its sixth year. George J. Holgate, director of the national Coast Guard Foundation and spokesman for the burn association, said burn survivors often have difficulty readjusting to day-to-day living because of their physical and emotional scars.

The burn association helps by organizing support groups. “Kids don’t like to go back to school because they feel different,” said Holgate, who survived burns on 30% of his body from a 1992 fire.

By mid-Wednesday morning, the firefighters appeared to have a good start toward their four-day goal.