During this time of Thanksgiving, The Arbors, an assisted living facility in Rancho Peñasquitos was looking for a way to give back to the community who gives so much to them throughout the year. One of their residents is the grandmother of firefighter Brooke Linman, who was severely injured while fighting last year's wildfires.
Saturday, The Arbors hosted a benefit lunch for the Burn Institute to honor firefighters, like Brooke, who put themselves in harms way. Events like these are important because residents who live there have difficulty getting out in the community, so the community typically comes in. The Arbors is a 91-unit assisted living facility that Executive Director, Charlie Bloom describes as a "great life" with "six Saturdays and a Sunday."
"When someone like Brooke survives an ordeal, we understand what our firefighters do for us. We come out open-armed. We want to give back," said Bloom.
Linman shared her harrowing and remarkable story of survival at the lunch. She and her crew tried to save the lives and the home of a father and 15-year-old son during last year's wildfires. They were quickly overtaken by the flames inside their fire engine. Flames moved faster than they did, and each member of the crew was burned. The 15-year-old made it out with severe burns, but his father did not.
"I can remember when the flames burned through the windows and started to overtake us, sinking in my seat, I resigned myself to the fact that I was going to die in that fire engine and then my daughter popped into my head. The fight kicked in and I decided I wasn't going to die," Linmon said.
Bloom expected to raise a few thousand dollars for the Burn Institute at the lunch with delicious barbecue and live music.
