Fighting those fires out there is a tough grueling job.
And a volunteer group in KOTA Territory hopes to ease some
of the burden on those fighting fires with the new mobile kitchen.
The next time a wildfire ravages through remote areas
fire fighters can now count on a meal that's close by.
"It's available for emergencies or for mass situations,
that's why we did it," said Sandy Neiman, treasurer of the organization.
Sandy Nieman, with the Crook County Fire Fighters Auxiliary, says they created a mobile response kitchen to feed those who are
fighting fires.
"It's been hours and hours of sitting at the drawing
board," said Suzette Moline, Chairman of the organization.
"We've waiting a long time to get this finished and its
going to be a great asset to the community," said Neiman.
Neiman says it all began in 2006 with the Thorne Divide Fire. During that time more than 500 fire fighters were on scene.
"It turned into a huge ordeal, we were called in, we
stepped up and had many volunteers that came and brought anything and
everything we could possibly want or need," said Kathi Driskill, Vice Chairman of the organization.
"We've had to use the back of a pick up, we have used a
campground, we've been in a garage,"said Moline.
But those facilities made it hard to serve large groups of
people.
"The kitchen is a way for us to finally cool the hot
meals on the vicinity or in the vicinity and them to the fire fighters
quicker," said Moline.
This new mobile kitchen can be used for more then just
fires.
"Whether it's the fire line, whether its cleaning up
after a tornado, whether its fixing food for a flood or the fire lines,"said Moline.
All disasters that have happened in our area during the last
several years.
And to put the final touches on the mobile kitchen, they
turned to the public for help.
"This is actually one of the first fundraiser's we have
done to bring in the additional money that we need to raise... the sheer joy of
accomplishing this after two and a half years... is absolutely amazing," said Moline.
The unit is fully sustainable with generators, a 210 gallon water tank, propane that can last for days, and it can even be plugged in if electric is available.
They received some grant money from Jim Pridgeon, the Crook County Emergency Management Coordinator, they say that helped them out a lot.
K & K helped out by working for months on the unit and not charging them any labor.
All three of the women interviewed say they are so thankful for how much the community has come together.
Some others they want to thank are Cambell County for the range they donated, to all those who donated more than $25,000 in donations, Powder River Energy for storage and maintenance of the unit, the Devils Tower KOA for hosting the fundraiser, and numerous others.
