Firefighters from across Nassau County gathered at the East Rockaway Fire Department last Sunday for the annual 4th Battalion Burn Center Benefit, raising money for the Nassau University Medical Center Burn Center, the region’s only specialized facility for burn treatment.
Fire departments from East Rockaway, Lakeview, Malverne and Rockville Centre — the county’s 4th Battalion — joined forces to support the Nassau County Firefighters Burn Center Foundation, which provides equipment, training and resources for burn care beyond what hospital funding covers.
The 4th Battalion has been raising funds for the burn center for more than 30 years, John Hennig, director of the Burn Center Foundation board, said. Each year the event is hosted by a different department in the battalion, and this year it was East Rockaway’s turn.
Local restaurants and businesses donated food and prizes to support the event. River Mill Tavern and Tables provided trays of food, along with Nick’s Pizza in Rockville Centre and several other local vendors.
“There was an open buffet free to all patrons,” Pignataro said. Raffle tickets were also available for purchase, with proceeds benefiting the burn center. According to Pignataro, local businesses, families and fire departments across the battalion donated prizes.
“Local restaurants donated gift cards,” he said. “Grant Avenue’s 405 Hose Company and P.C. Richards were two of many sponsors for the event, along with private families. We have big prizes like New York Islanders tickets, Yankees tickets and car detailing.”
Hennig said the fundraiser consistently draws strong community support and engagement. “We have 300 to 400 people attending every year, from firefighters and medical personnel to community members,” he said. “The Switch is a band that plays for our fundraiser every year, and we have the Nassau County Firefighters Pipes and Drums making a guest appearance.”
Joseph Mihalich, chairman of the 4th Battalion Fire District, said the event reflects the battalion’s commitment to supporting the burn center and the people it serves.
“We are very proud of what we do at this event,” Mihalich said. “We typically raise around $15,000 to $20,000 each year. It’s a tradition, and each year we try to make it a little bigger.” This year’s total was unknown at press time.
The fundraiser is unique to the 4th Battalion, though other battalions across Nassau County often make donations to support the burn center.
Fire officials emphasized the importance of the center’s location, at NUMC in East Meadow. “We, as firefighters, want to know that somebody we pull out of a house fire or car wreck with burns can go someplace where they will be well taken care of,” Thomas Gaffney, chairman of the Burn Center Foundation, said. “If we didn’t have the burn center in East Meadow, patients would have to travel to Stony Brook, Staten Island, Manhattan or the Bronx — each about a half hour to an hour away.
“If you have a bad burn, every minute matters,” Gaffney added. “That’s why having a burn center here on Long Island is so important.”
The burn center, he said, faced staffing challenges after the pandemic, when many medical professionals were reassigned to other areas of care. Foundation members worked with local, county and state officials to restore staffing levels, meeting with hospital leadership and emergency department administrators to ensure that the center could continue providing care. Today it is fully staffed, and treats patients from across the region.
“We wanted to make sure the people of Nassau County are fully protected, and that the burn center is fully staffed and ready when it’s needed,” Gaffney said.
In addition to supporting staffing efforts, the battalion’s annual fundraiser helps pay for specialized equipment for the center, including devices such as vein locators, which help medical staff find veins on burn patients, whose injuries can make the process more difficult.
The foundation has also funded cord trackers, a device attached to a feeding tube that helps doctors ensure that burn victims, who often have difficulty eating, are properly fed, because early post-injury nutrition is critical to recovery. Gaffney explained that the device helps medical staff place a feeding tube more precisely, speeding up the time it takes to begin nutritional support by about 25 percent.
Donations can be made online at NCBurnCenter.org.
