Sometimes there are people behind the scene helping in a big way but who never get noticed. This is about some of those people.
It's the Citizen Fire Academy Alumni Association, a small group of volunteers who use a maroon colored city van and donated money to perform "Firefighter Rehab" providing ice cold bottles of water and Gatorade to keep the firefighters of Midland, Texas, hydrated and refreshed. If you want to see the face of gratitude then hand a hot thirsty firefighter an ice cold bottle of Gatorade.
There was a nasty truck/car accident a couple of weeks ago that killed two people and spilled many gallons of diesel on the roadway. Firefighters and Fire Department hazmat personnel swarmed the scene to prevent a huge disaster. And they were successful.
It was a hot summer day, and firefighters were out there for hours. An active body can get very overheated outdoors on a hot day, but put him in a bunker -- that heavy, thick, yellow, plastic protective suit -- and physical exhaustion and dehydration becomes a real danger.
I've commented about the accident here and about firefighters here.
On the day of the accident there was a volunteer named Kathy Hart on the scene for practically the entire time. She handed out cold drinks to hot firefighters (see photo). And around lunch time Anna Washam arranged for, and Debby Sifuentes delivered several boxes of fried chicken to help replenish spent calories. By early afternoon everyone was probably well fed and thoroughly hydrated, and there were no casualties among the firefighters.
So here's an internet tip of the hat to the volunteers who make this sort of thing happen. There's no pay, and the only reward is the satisfaction of knowing that they've helped another human being. Kudos to volunteers everywhere, and super sized kudos to the volunteers who help keep our firefighters going.
Pssssst. By the way, in the "have you heard this rumor" department, there's a possibility that the volunteer group might get access to an old city ambulance for use in Firefighter Rehab. That would mean there could be an air conditioned or heated compartment where exhausted firefighters could sit down and cool off on a hot day or warm up on a cold day. Now that's a smart way to put old equipment to good use.
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