Firefighters Gather ’Round the Dinner Table
Photography by Richard Fusillo
“You learn a lot about someone when you share a meal together.”
The oven door clicks open. Pans slide out. Tantalizing aromas fill the air. Spoons clank on serving bowls. Camaraderie abounds.
It’s the atmosphere of any big family meal, but this isn’t just any family. Lunch at CAL FIRE Station 30 in Paso Robles brings together siblings of circumstance. Though they’re not related by blood, firefighters are united on the front lines of California’s harrowing fire season, which burned over 4.4 million acres of land in 2020 alone. Battling blazes is exceedingly dangerous, even for seasoned firefighters, and they don’t take returning home for granted.
Some of the firefighters stationed at Station 30 live locally, while others reside as far as five hours away. No matter where they call home, their colleagues are their family on the job. Typical shifts are scheduled three consecutive days on followed by four off, unless it’s peak fire season from July through October, in which case on-duty days easily stretch to three straight weeks.
When it comes to dinner, these first responders team up, taking turns at kitchen duty. That includes meal planning, shopping, preparation and, of course, cooking. For this particular meal, the culinary crew serves up racks of ribs, several sheet pans of roasted asparagus and potatoes, heaping bowls of macaroni salad and more than a few loaves of buttery garlic bread. Firefighting and training burn a lot of calories and lead to quite an appetite. On this occasion, dessert is cookie à la mode, courtesy of Negranti Creamery, Sweet Grace Cookie Co., and Scout Coffee.
Ribs are the particular specialty of Jacob Romero, a seasonal firefighter whose meat preparation takes about six hours of smoking: two hours uncovered, two hours in foil, then 30–60 minutes with sauce.
There’s a definite strategy involved in coming up with such a tasty and filling menu. When the firefighters grocery shop, they pay with a California state credit card but they certainly don’t have carte blanche. Meal costs are tallied monthly and funds are deducted accordingly from each of their paychecks. That requires the crew to make its grocery list with a pretty strict budget in mind, like any family.
Thank you to the partners who generously donated the sweet treats to round out the meal:
Sheep milk ice cream in flavors Salted Brown Sugar and Vanilla Bean
from Negranti Creamery in Paso Robles
negranticreamery.com
Scout Cookies (made with oatmeal, three kinds of chocolate and toasted pecans)
From Scout Coffee in San Luis Obispo
scoutcoffeeco.com
Espresso brownies and chocolate chip cookies
From Sweet Grace Cookie Co. in Atascadero
sweetgracecookieco.com
