Vote For Indiana Fire Fighters to Win Grant to Fund Fire Victim Charity

December 20, 2010 – The Madison County Firefighters Foundation – a charity started by Anderson, IN Local 1262 fire fighters – put its name up for consideration in the Pepsi Refresh Project. If the foundation receives enough votes, it will win $250,000. That money will fund a project dubbed “Fire Rescue House,” which helps families that have been burned out of their homes rebuild their lives.

Click here for more information and here to vote. The deadline is December 31.

Fire Rescue House was an idea that came in the aftermath of a fatal 2008 fire. Local 1262 fire fighters responded to a home already engulfed in flames. Unfortunately, they were not able to save the two young children – ages one and two – trapped inside.

Madison County Firefighters Foundation President and Local 1262 member Skip Ockomon was one of the responding fire fighters. “The grieving family found temporary shelter with family, but there were 15 people living in the home,” says Ockomon. “I knew they couldn’t stay there forever.”

Ockomon and others began asking for donations to fund the Fire Rescue House, a home for burn victims. The Foundation has also built other Fire Rescue Houses, but organizers want to do it nationwide, rather than just in the area surrounding Anderson, Indiana.

“This is such a great project because we do more than just provide shelter,” says Ockomon. “We have had several area professionals donate everything from medical care to food.”