BASTROP WILDFIRE RESPONDER FEEDING
In September, members from several areas were able to work with the Tarrant Baptist Feeding Unit. The feeding unit was deployed by TBM and asked to go to Bastrop to feed the Responders fighting the wildfires in the area.
Normally when you go to work a feeding unit responding to wildfires you don't get to see any of the smoke from the fires. This was not the case this time. As we approached Camp Swift just north of Bastrop we could actually see large plumes of smoke. It was similar to seeing smoke coming out of a Volcano.
Once the feeding unit reached Camp Swift we immediately set up the kitchen and began preparation for serving breakfast the next morning.
To insure breakfast was ready to be served at 6 a.m. we had to begin cooking at 3 a.m.
The first morning when we got up at 2:30 a.m. and went outside you could see a large orange glow coming from the woods on the other side of the camp.
When we started serving breakfast we kept the serving line open until 1 p.m. This allowed us to feed the firefighters who had slept on base that night and were going into the field, while insuring all the firefighters who fought the fire during the night had come in from their shift.
It was evident the responders liked coffee. We constantly made coffee thoughout the morning. The more we made the more they drank.
Lunch for the firefighters was hoagies, chips, snacks, fruit, and cookies. The hoagies were prepared by FBC Elgin each afternoon. The firefighters who were going into the field picked up their hoagies and snacks after they ate breakfast and were leaving for the day.
Dinner was served from 6:30 p.m. until 11:30 p.m. to insure all firefighters coming in from the field had been fed. To have dinner ready at 6:30 p.m. we had to start cooking at 3 p.m.
After each meal was cooked and served all the equipment had to be cleaned and ready to cook the next meal.
On the last two days of feeding, the meals were prepared at one location on the base and had to be transported to a site on the back side of the base.
One of the Yellow Caps helping cook the meals lived in the area of Bastrop where the fires were burning. His house and his daughter's house were burned down in the fires. The only thing he was able to save was his truck and his dog.
