Feasting at the firehouse has meant so many different things
throughout my career in the fire service.
In the next few installments of “Hittin’ the Hot Spot”, I will recall
some of my favorite stories about fighting firehouse famine. Before you get too excited, these stories are
not going to provide you with any new recipes, rather the manner in which the
food was acquired and devoured. I am
sure there are more unique stories about food in the firehouse than there are
firehouses, and I encourage you all to comment about some of your favorite
memories about the people and procedures that helped feed the folks in your
station.
My first stories come from 7507 Baltimore Blvd. in College
Park, Maryland. PGFD Station 12 was my
home away from home for 2 ½ years while I attended the University of
Maryland. It was a unique situation for
several reasons. First and foremost, it
was a fire station. There was a career
staff on duty during the day from Monday – Friday, but the house was staffed by
volunteers the rest of the time.
However, within those vollies were 12 people who actually lived at the
fire station in what was called the “Sackroom”.
Although the Sackroom itself was our little oasis away from
all the normal activity of the station, we all shared one kitchen on the main
floor. Every live-in had a portion of a
shelf in one of the three refrigerators, and one overhead cabinet. Although we trusted each other, you wrote
your name on everything if you actually wanted to have it there when you were
ready to eat it. Fortunately, there were
alliances and partnerships that permitted sharing, but only if you had
something of equal value to share. I remember
mass quantities of fish sticks, spaghetti & meatballs, mac & cheese,
and P. B. & J’s coming out of that kitchen; at least until grillin’ season. I never knew how many things could be
grilled. I also realized that I wasn’t
the only wacker who enjoyed pretending a good grease fire on the grill was like
a mini structure fire. Nothing wrong
with multi-tasking food prep with fire attach practical exercises, right? I only recall one instance where gear and
SCBA was actually deployed, but the squirt bottle got a good workout.
The town had the usual college town temptations as
well. I was particularly fond of Hungry
Herman’s steak, egg and cheese hoagie, the Bagel Place’s breakfast sandwiches,
and of course, the Domino’s Pizza joint, which was within eyesight of the
apparatus ramp if you felt like peering through binoculars and watching your
pizza get made. There was one delivery
guy who drove a convertible Jeep who worked every minute that store was open, 7
days a week. He knew every corner of the
campus and town, and never walked. He even
ran the stairs, elevators took too long.
I remember him telling me that he made $90,000 a year, and based on his
hustle, I believe him. I briefly considered
a career path adjustment.
Probably my greatest memory of all was the evening meals
during work shifts. During the summer
and over holiday breaks in the college calendar, the fire department would hire
three or four vollies to staff the station after the career staff went off
duty. Since most of the active members
were college students, the house would get might lonely when everyone went home
for the holidays. It was a pretty good
deal, and the selection was usually a competition. Hang at the fire station AND get paid? Sign me up!
The shift started at 3:00 p.m., and we had three important
tasks to complete at the start of each shift: equipment checks, spot cleaning
tasks, and meal planning, but not always in that order. We would decide on the menu and post it on
the chalkboard in the dayroom with a sign-up deadline time. By 3:30, we could expect phone calls from
members trying to decide what they wanted to do for dinner. If our menu sounded good, they signed up.
With the afternoon tasks completed, the duty
crew would check the sign-up list, and do an impromptu first-due target hazard
familiarization of a local grocery store.
Since we were running hot, we always tried to keep the store visit as
brief as possible. Dividing the shopping
list (usually by tearing it into portions) made the trip go very quickly. Back at the station, the preparations and
calculations began. Barring any
interruptions by the communication center, our timing was usually spot-on, and
we collected cash (usually between 4 and 7 dollars, depending on the menu).
I remember occasionally having leftovers, but not very often. Either we were good planners or great eaters. Clean-up was always as smooth as the
preparation. Everyone who ate helped
clean up… it was the unwritten rule.
With great teamwork, we could have everything cleaned up and put away in
less than 10 minutes. Only then could we
do dessert!
I am waiting for the May's blog. That should be a great one!
ReplyDeleteHow could you forget the infamous "macadam cake"?
ReplyDeleteMy favorite meal memory at CPVFD was one evening when one of our more accomplished chefs prepared Chicken Marsala. It was beyond delicious, and it still stands out as the best that I have ever had. Despite many attempts at fine restaurants and in my own kitchen, I have not been able to come close to that incredible meal.
Sure enough, about five minutes after sitting for dinner, a call came in. All I could think about during the call was getting back to that wonderful meal. About an hour later, we once again returned to the table. But, alas, the food was now ice cold, and the taste was only a shadow of what it had been a mere hour earlier.