Despite serious burns over 51 percent of her body, a Firefighter Explorer is more determined than ever to achieve her dream. The journey to becoming a Pasadena firefighter is just delayed.
America Salmeron, 17, saved herself when her dune buggy caught fire after a crash outside Las Vegas.
She was trapped in the burning wreckage but managed to craw out from under it and run before it exploded.
“I saw death in front of my eyes, and I didn’t know what to do, but I told myself that if I don’t get myself out of here, no one will,” Salmeron told KTLA.
Pasadena Capt. Arno Avakian told a reporter: “America embodies everything that the Pasadena Firefighter Explorer Program is. She’s a hard worker, she’s driven, positive attitude, always willing to help others.”
Despite the journey ahead, Salmeron said she’s more determined than ever to become a firefighter. She was in the process of interviewing to become a sponsored cadet at the Verdugo Fire Academy.
“When do you hear a female say, ‘Oh, I want to become a firefighter?’ It’s rare, right, because it’s a man’s…job, and at least in my hometown, I don’t see a lot of firefighters that are women. I wanted to become one of the very few and that’s exactly what I’m going to do. I see this situation as a test, a test that God put me through, saying, ‘You want to join the fire service? Well, let me put you through fire. Let me see if you still want to do it.’ Look, I managed to escape and I’m still wanting to become a firefighter.”
