Strangers Hold Mail-In Baby Shower for Firefighter's Widow

A stranger more than 1,000 miles away is helping plan a mail-in baby shower for the wife of a slain firefighter who died fighting the largest wildfire in Los Angeles County history.

While battling the Station Fire on Aug. 30, Los Angeles County Fire Department Specialist Arnie Quinones and Capt. Ted Hall died when their truck plunged 800 feet off a road.

Quinones and his wife were expecting their first child together.

In Seattle, Robyn Yoder had been following the story. She's a La Canada native who now works for Microsoft. Hall and Quinones had both previously worked out of Los Angeles County Fire Station No. 82 in La Canada, the La Canada Valley Sun reported.

"When I heard those two firefighters were lost, that alone was enough. I started bursting into tears," Yoder told the newspaper. "Then, when I learned that firefighter Quinones was expecting a baby, and having just had my second child, just imagining what that would be like not to be able to share that most special part of life with your husband, I fell into pieces."

That's when the idea for a mail-in baby shower was born, the La Canada Valley Sun reported:

In response, Yoder and her mother, La Canada resident Jodi Bruckel, are organizing a mail-in baby shower for Quinones’ widow, Loressa. Area residents are invited to deliver baby items and gift certificates to Station No. 82, on Foothill Boulevard at Georgian Road, between now and Sept. 25 as a way to support the soon-to-be mother, Bruckel said.

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"Even the smallest gift, when you multiply it by person after person, will add up quickly," Yoder said. "So don’t be afraid to give $5, $10, whether it is to the memorial fund or to the baby shower."

Gifts can be mailed to

Fire Station No. 82
352 N Foothill Blvd
La Canada Flintridge, CA 91011

Bruckel told the newspaper that the shower "is in no way intended to diminish donations to the memorial funds that have been set up for these two heroes by the fire department." To donate to those funds, contact:

F&A Credit Union, "Memorial Fund"
P.O. Box 30831, Los Angeles, CA 90030
Donation payable to:
Tedmund Hall and Arturo Quinones (Account No. 617170)
Tedmund Hall (Account No. 617171)
Arturo Quinones (Account No. 617172)

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