Foundation Holds First Family Day

           

Over Memorial Day weekend, the Wildland Firefighter Foundation held its first Family Day at its headquarters in Boise, Idaho, to bring together the families of fallen wildland firefighters.

According to the WFF's Melissa Schwagerl, some 130 people attended. The families had lost firefighters from as far back as the 1994 Storm King Fire and as recently as this year.

“We took them over to the monument, we took them to the National Interagency Fire Center,” said Schwagerl. “They got to release balloons with their loved one's name or with a message on it, and we released white doves. We really tried to make it special but keep an informal tone to it.”

Families that attended said they'd like to have Family Day yearly, Schwagerl said. Next year, the WFF hopes to set up a mock fire camp so that families can experience how wildland firefighters live at camp.