Walking Alongside Burn Survivors and Families in Recovery
The Washington State Council of Fire Fighters Burn Foundation supports people affected by burn injury throughout the Pacific Northwest. Founded and powered by professional fire fighters who volunteer their time, the Foundation provides prevention education, community resources, direct support at the Harborview Burn Unit, and programs such as Camp Eyabsut, our summer camp for young burn survivors.
Our Mission
The mission of the Burn Foundation is to promote the education and prevention of burn injuries and improve the lives of burn survivors. A 501(c)(3) registered charity, the Foundation is funded by WSCFF member per capita payments and private contributions.
Who We Serve
Survivors, fire fighters, and their loved ones come to Seattle’s Harborview Burn Center from across Washington, Alaska, Idaho, and Montana, often traveling great distances in moments of crisis. The Burn Foundation supports people from that initial disruption through the long arc of recovery, offering connection and care as individuals and families heal and adapt over time.
What Healing Really Requires
Serious burn injuries don’t resolve quickly. Recovery begins with urgent medical care and continues long after a patient leaves the hospital. Survivors may move through months or years of physical rehabilitation, trauma recovery, and lasting changes to their appearance and daily routines.
But healing isn’t only physical. It’s emotional, social, and deeply personal. It requires time, stability, and a community that understands the realities of long-term recovery.
People need more than treatment. They need sustained support to mend, rebuild, and thrive.
This is why the Burn Foundation exists: so that no survivor walks that journey alone.
Burn Foundation focus areas:
Education & Prevention
We help keep communities safer by delivering burn-injury prevention classes to fire departments across the region. We also provide matching grants so fire departments can purchase and install smoke detectors for local residents, simple tools that save lives every year.
Liaison Response Team for Burn Injured Fire Fighters (LRT)
The mission of the Liaison Response Team (LRT) is to provide assistance to fire fighters and other emergency service personnel, their families and departments following the aftermath of a burn injury. The foundation works with the family, fire fighters, the burn unit team, and the media. They also provide lodging, clothing toiletries, meals, travel expenses, and run errands for the fire fighter and the family.
When a firefighter or emergency responder is injured, our trained liaisons step in immediately. They work directly with burn unit staff, support the family, colleagues and department, coordinate travel and lodging, handle media inquiries, and take care of practical needs—from meals and clothing to urgent errands—so those most impacted can focus on healing.
Emergency Housing
Families traveling for burn treatment may arrive with little more than the clothes they’re wearing. That’s why we maintain a fully equipped, private residence just steps from the Harborview Burn Unit, offering a safe and quiet place to rest, shower, do laundry, cook meals, and regroup during the hardest days of their lives.
Research shows that having loved ones nearby during recovery improves patient outcomes. This housing, offered at no cost to families, helps make that possible.
Camp Eyabsut
Camp Eyabsut is a free, week-long summer camp for young burn survivors ages 5–17, held in Black Diamond, Washington (about an hour southeast of Seattle). Each summer, campers come together from across the Pacific Northwest to experience friendship, adventure, and a break from the daily challenges that burn injuries can bring.
Led entirely by volunteers—including fire fighters, counselors, and adult burn survivors—Camp Eyabsut creates a supportive environment where kids can build confidence, connect with peers who understand their experiences, and rediscover the simple joys of childhood. Since 1990, the camp has helped hundreds of children feel less alone and more at home in their own skin. Many return year after year because Eyabsut feels like family.