When a five-year-old California girl heard about the death of firefighter Cory Iverson, who died battling the Thomas wildfire last week, she tossed her plan to buy a My Little Pony out the window and started a fundraiser for “people who have lost their daddies in the fire.”
On Dec. 14, Iverson became the first firefighter death battling the wildfires raging across southern parts of the state. He died while battling the second-largest fire in the state’s recorded history, spanning 272,200 acres.
Faye Segraves, 5, posted a video on Facebook four days after news of Iverson’s death where she talked about the $112 she raised for families of those who died in the wildfires. Faye is herself the daughter of a firefighter.
READ MORE: California wildfires: Thomas Fire threatens 18,000 structures
“It was a big fire,” Faye told CNN. “A daddy on the fire died.”
Some of that money also came from Faye’s mother Kylee, who told CNN that she gave her daughter her tips from where she works.
Three days later, she has raised more than $8,800 through online crowdfunding through the Wildland Firefighter Foundation from almost 120 donors with a $10,000 goal.
The foundation says Wildland firefighters don’t receive any benefits after a fatality for up to three months, so the foundation steps in to support families in need.