North Bay Firefighters Holding Annual Burn Foundation Relay

By Bay City News Service

North Bay fire departments, emergency medical response agencies and the California Highway Patrol are participating Thursday in the 18th annual North Bay Firefighter Burn Relay that benefits the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation.

A parade of antique and modern emergency vehicles were scheduled to leave the Southern Marin Fire Station 1 in Sausalito this morning to collect donations raised by fire and public safety agencies in Marin and Sonoma counties. The relay will end at the Healdsburg Fire Department.

Twenty-two fire departments are participating in the relay, collecting funds raised for the foundation through golf tournaments, pancake breakfasts, spaghetti dinners and other community events.

The Alisa Ann Ruch Foundation was formed in 1971 after the 8-year-old Van Nuys girl died on June 28, 1970, of burns she suffered at a barbecue.

“Each year this event brings in approximately $50,000 to support the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation’s mission of enhancing the lives of burn survivors and promoting burn prevention awareness,” Jennifer Radics, executive director of the nonprofit, said in a statement.