Firefighters Who Work on Thanksgiving Often Cook a Holiday Feast
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WHEELING -- When you're a first responder, a holiday meal can get interrupted when duty calls -- but that doesn't keep them from cooking and enjoying a feast.
Wheeling Fire Department Assistant Chief Eric Cianelli said firefighters who are scheduled to work this Thanksgiving likely will also eat dinners with all the trimmings -- or if they don't feel like cooking, order Chinese food, pizza or some other takeout.
"It depends on what the guys want to do," he said. "Generally speaking, everyone kind of does Thanksgiving dinner."
Cianelli said stations that neighbor each other, such as Elm Grove and Woodsdale, will often combine to have one big dinner. This cuts down on the number of turkeys that have to be cooked.
"The stations combine and have dinner together rather than seven different meals. Everybody is good at cooking something. They step up to task and do a good job," Cianelli said, adding the firefighters often share the cost of purchasing the food cooked.
"The guys' wives bring pies and their family comes in. Different organizations will donate food or pies," he added
Cianelli said he could not recall immediately a past Thanksgiving where he had to fight a fire, but it does happen. The cook sometimes gets distracted by all the holiday activity and stops paying attention to the stove.
"There's a lot of cooking going on and unattended cooking is the No. 1 cause of kitchen fires," he said. "People should have smoke detectors working with charged up batteries."
Cianelli said, however, that is necessary no matter what holiday it is.
The Wheeling firefighters work 24-hour shifts. He said, this Thanksgiving, the "A" platoon will be on the job. This means there will be at least 24 firefighters on duty, spread across all the stations.
"There's always the off chance we don't get to finish a meal. But we're ready to respond, no matter what time of day and what we're doing. Even if we're eating Thanksgiving dinner," he said.
City spokesman Philip Stahl said the city's police department does not have a kitchen to do any cooking during shifts. However, he noted the officers sometimes do receive donations of food on holidays from local eateries to enjoy.