Volunteers Feed Firefighters In NW OK

The Fairview First United Methodist Church kitchen is filled with donations from all over and fuel for firefighters.

“Those women in that community banded together and just made it happen,” said Fairview City Manager Jerry Eubanks.

So far, dozens of volunteers have cooked 5,000 meals for firefighters at the church.

Eubanks and Senior Pastor Andrew Haire are helping to deliver them to sites in Seiling, Taloga, Putnam, Longdale and Canton, where the Rhea fire continues to burn.

The volunteers at the church have been churning out breakfast, lunch and dinner each day for several days.

And the hot meals are scarfed up by firefighters who’ve been battling relentless flames, tough terrain and powerful winds.

“I had a tear in my eye when a man from Tulsa, Oklahoma wakes up to us and walked over to a cooler and grabbed two hamburgers and a hot dog in each arm and consumed the hamburger in two bites,” Eubanks said. “He hadn’t eaten in 36 hours and for some reason that had one of the most profound effects on me just seeing that covered in soot, ash, black smoke and he’s giving thumbs up and he isn’t letting go of that hamburger.”

“I can’t be on the front lines fighting the fire, and you don’t want me to, but I can deliver a meal to these guys and these gals to keep them keeping our community safe,” said Pastor Haire.

The church has also collected thousands of dollars in fuel money for fire departments.