He Wasn’t Sure His Body Could Do It
Through Fire. Still Standing.
A Firefighter Burn Survivor Week Series (2026)
Each year in Crested Butte, burn-injured firefighters gather for a week unlike any other — Firefighter Burn Survivor Week, made possible by the DC Firefighters Burn Foundation, the Adaptive Sports Center, and dedicated partners who believe in the long road of recovery.
They come from different departments. Different states. Different stages of recovery.
But they share something few others understand.
This week is about challenge. Perspective. Rebuilding confidence in a body that has changed.
Most of all, it’s about not having to explain.
This is Dylan’s story.
He Wasn’t Sure His Body Could Do It
Dylan Van Iwaarden | Orange County Fire Authority
Dylan Van Iwaarden grew up in Southern California and served with the Orange County Fire Authority on the Santiago Hand Crew.
In 2020, his crew was assigned to the Silverado Fire just north of Irvine. After hours of cutting line and conducting burn operations, a wind shift changed everything.
They began chasing spot fires up a hill. Then fire ignited below them.
“There didn’t need to be much conversation,” Dylan said. “You just knew you were in a bad spot. You knew you had to get back to the road to survive.”
He ran through the fire.
Halfway down the hill, he began to roll. He rolled the rest of the way to the dozer line.
His crew surrounded him, trying to care for him. He remembers the terror more than anything.
Dylan sustained burns over 65% of his body — third and fourth degree. He lost substantial muscle mass in his left leg. He spent three months in a coma.
And when he woke up, everything was different.
A Second Chance — and a Long Road Back
For the past five and a half years, Dylan has worked relentlessly to rebuild his body and his life.
But about a year and a half ago, he found himself in a different kind of fight.
He wasn’t sure if he would be able to return to work. Medical retirement felt like a looming reality. The identity he had built as a firefighter — and the crew that came with it — felt like it might be slipping away.
“I felt alone,” he said. “Like I didn’t have the crew I used to have.”
Then came a phone call.
When Lionel reached out about Firefighter Burn Survivor Week in Crested Butte, the timing couldn’t have been more precise.
“He told me it would feel like a firehouse,” Dylan said. “We’d sit around the table, eat dinner, hang out. And we’d push ourselves and become better men together.”
That’s exactly what he needed.
He was looking for his next crew.
Doubt Is Loud. Growth Is Louder.
Dylan almost didn’t come.
He had skied before he was injured, but he hadn’t been on skis in six years. With significant muscle loss in his leg and lingering nerve issues, the doubts were loud.
Are you going to hurt yourself?
Are they right? Maybe you can’t do this anymore.
“That negative feedback loop had been running for years,” he said.
But Sunday morning changed everything.
The first run was a small green. Just enough to ease into it.
When he reached the bottom, he braced himself for pain.
Instead, he felt ready to go again.
“I thought my body would be wrecked,” he said. “But I felt good.”
By the end of the week, he wasn’t just skiing — he was pushing himself. First time on a black diamond. First time spinning around and skiing backward. Things he never thought he’d do again.
The instructors from the Adaptive Sports Center met him where he was and helped him go further than he expected.
But the biggest shift wasn’t physical.
It was confidence.
“I realized I’d been telling myself a load of crap,” he said with a laugh. “Only you can decide what you can and can’t do.”
You Can’t Change the Burn. You Can Choose What Comes Next.
If he could speak to himself two weeks before the trip, he knows exactly what he’d say:
“It’s very easy to listen to the voices that say you can’t do something. They’re the loudest ones. But that’s no way to live.”
The burn happened. That’s reality.
But what happens next? That’s a choice.
“You can’t change that you’re a burn survivor,” Dylan said. “But how are you going to live moving forward? Are you going to stay stuck in that hospital bed? Or are you going to go out and be uncomfortable?”
Growth, he says, only happens in uncomfortable places.
“Sitting inside watching TV all day — that’s not growth. That’s wallowing.”
Put yourself in uncomfortable positions.
See what you can do.
Gain confidence.
Learn who you are now.
A New Crew
More than anything, this week reminded Dylan that he isn’t alone.
The ability to relate — to sit across the table from someone who understands without explanation — was life-changing.
“It’s created relationships I know will continue moving forward,” he said.
Five years ago, he ran through fire to survive.
This week, he ran toward something else.
Confidence. Brotherhood. A new crew.
And he’s taking that with him down the mountain.
Firefighter Burn Survivor Week exists because people choose to show up.
When a firefighter is injured, the recovery doesn’t end at the hospital doors. It continues in places like Crested Butte — where healing looks like challenge, connection, and community.
Help us make sure the next firefighter has a place to land.
The Foundation
Founded in 2004 by active and retired Washington, D.C. firefighters, the D.C. Firefighters Burn Foundation stands beside injured firefighters and burn survivors from the moment of injury through every phase of recovery.
Through direct support, peer connection, and transformative programs like Firefighter Burn Survivor Week, we help ensure no one walks this road alone.
