[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 63 (Thursday, May 19, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 19, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                        TRIBUTE TO CLIFF HASKELL

                                 ______


                         HON. ROBERT T. MATSUI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 19, 1994

  Mr. MATSUI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Cliff 
Haskell, a retired firefighter who has devoted more than 20 years of 
service as executive director of the firefighters Pacific Burn 
Institute.
  Mr. Haskell began his career as a firefighter with the city of 
Sacramento in 1959. His commitment to victims of burns injuries was the 
result of one of Sacramento's greatest tragedies.
  In 1972, a jet plane attempting to take off crashed into a crowded 
ice cream parlor killing 26 people, including firefighter Gene Levine 
and eight members of his family. Shortly after the crash, Mr. Haskell 
attended a Flame Free Design Conference, where a multidisciplinary 
approach to the burn problem was presented. It was here that he was 
inspired to start a burn unit in Sacramento.
  Mr. Haskell immediately began several successful fundraising 
campaigns and proudly formed the Firefighters Pacific Burn Institute in 
December 1973. The organization's goals were to promote and support 
burn treatment facilities; support education to hospital, medical, and 
firefighter personnel; promote fire prevention through public 
education; promote consumer product safety and work with consumer 
organizations; provide peer counseling groups to assist burn survivors 
and their families; and finally to correct and initiate fire and burn 
accident legislation.
  With the collaboration of physicians and the administration at the 
University of California, Davis Medical Center, it was agreed that a 
specialized burn treatment facility was needed and should be 
established at the medical center. The UCDMC Regional Burn Center 
opened in January 1974.
  Through Cliff Haskell's leadership, many groups have helped to fund 
the ongoing support to the burn center and service programs. The 
largest group of contributors are firefighters who contribute to the 
institute through payroll deductions.
  Money raised by the burn institute has been used to purchase 
equipment for the burn center, provide burn team education, distribute 
prevention materials to the community, sponsor a special summer camp 
for burn-injured children, support recovery programs for burn 
survivors, and fund research directed at improving methods of burn 
treatment.
  Mr. Haskell continues to give tirelessly as he donates countless 
hours as executive director of the Firefighters Pacific Burn Institute. 
Through his efforts, over $7 million has been raised and given to 
support the burn center, staff, and patients.
  In addition to his work with the center, he has also been an active 
member of the National Safety Council, the National Fire protection 
Association, the Sacramento Area Firefighters Local No. 522, the 
Federated Firefighters of California, the international Association of 
Firefighters, and the Firefighters Committee to develop CAL/OSHA 
standards for firefighters.
  Mr. Speaker, It is with great pleasure that I ask my colleagues to 
join me in saluting Mr. Craig Haskell's many landmark contributions to 
the people of this region. I congratulate him for his outstanding 
leadership and wish him continued success in all of his future 
endeavors.

                          ____________________