Monday, April 21, 2025
The Nassau County 4th Battalion Fire District and the Nassau County Firefighters Burn Center Foundation hosted the annual Firefighters Burn Center Benefit at Malverne Fire Department headquarters last Sunday. Firefighters from Malverne, Lakeview, East Rockaway, Lynbrook and Rockville Centre attended.
“The foundation supports the burn center at the Nassau University Medical Center,” John Hennig, director of the Burn Center Foundation board and ex-chief of the Rockville Center F.D., said.
NUMC, in East Meadow, houses a $6.7 million, 12,000-square-foot burn center. With its sophisticated technology, the specialized surgeons and nurses at NUMC can treat up to 10 patients at once, with beds for critical and acute care.
“This burn center is it for Nassau County — most of Long Island,” Hennig explained. “It stretches from the middle of Queens and out to Suffolk County — this is the burn center.”
The center’s expert staff helps burn victims with immediate pain and long-term healing, with a support team to guide patients through the process and a hospital-based peer support program called Survivors Offering Assistance in Recovery. SOAR encourages people with shared experiences to support and assist one another to adapt to life with burn injuries.
“There was definitely a need at the burn center for different equipment, to help the staff with training, education, travel,” Hennig said. “That’s where we step in. The foundation supports the staff above and beyond what the medical center will supply to the burn center.”
The 4th Battalion, which comprises the Malverne, Lakeview, East Rockaway, Lynbrook and Rockville Centre fire departments, has hosted a fundraiser for the foundation since 2008, held each year at a different firehouse.
“Through the years it’s really grown in popularity,” Hennig said. “With social media getting out the information, people come from all over the county to whatever firehouse is hosting it that year.”
The money collected is donated to the foundation, to offset its financial supporting for the burn center. Hennig estimates that the 4th Battalion has raised nearly $200,000 at the events.
“This is open to the public too,” said James Lang, vice chairman of the battalion and ex-chief of the Malverne F.D. “It’s not just first responders that can come to these fundraisers, it’s for anyone and everyone.”
In addition to food and drinks, there were hand-rolled The Chief cigars, by KJD Cigar Co., for sale. There was live music by the Switch and the Nassau County Firefighters Pipes and Drums. Raffle tickets were available for purchase, and raffle prizes were donated by members of the participating firehouses and their communities. The baskets included a range of whiskeys, bourbons, wines, tools, gift cards, an air purifier, a free bounce house rental and more.
There was also a silent auction, by Long Island Silent Auctions, which featured exclusive items like sports memorabilia signed by Mike Tyson as well as members of New York’s professional sports teams, designer handbags, a CD display signed by Taylor Swift, a four-person, four-night stay at a golf course in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and a five-night stay for at a resort in either the Dominican Republic or Cancun. A portion of the sales from the silent auction will be donated to the burn center.
“You can see the amount of work that goes in to make this happen,” Hennig said. “It takes months of planning beforehand, they get the raffles, the logistics, everything. It’s a lot to get done, and Malverne has done an outstanding job.”
