Firefighters Open Up Station To Displaced Families
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Firefighters often risk their lives to save others while they are battling fires. Last week, some Minneapolis firefighters took the call of duty even further once the flames were out.
A fire broke out at a Minneapolis home in the 1600 block of Oliver Avenue North around 3 a.m. on Jan. 30. Twelve people displaced were going to have to wait hours for another Red Cross representative to find them shelter as they were busy responding to other calls.
"Here we have young kids, no shoes, no coats, they're standing outside and they don't have a car," Minneapolis Fire Department captain Joe Schulz said.
The firefighters came up with a plan. They brought the families, and their pets, to Fire Station 14 in Minneapolis.
"I've never seen that in the twenty-one years I've been here," Capt. Schulz said. "This is the first time we've opened up our home and allowed families, let alone five families come in."
The firefighters gave them water and blankets, but Battalion Chief Mike Dahlberg decided to fire up the grill and make some pancakes for the families.
"I usually only make them for my grandkids," Dahlberg said. "But we grabbed some syrup, some plates, some silverware, some bowls of popcorn and we just brought it all in."
The families were later relocated by the Red Cross. But it's unlikely they'll forget the hospitality, and the pancakes, of the same people who tried to save their home.
"My wife called me and said 'I hear you made pancakes," Dahlberg laughed. "She said 'word is out, pancakes were made at Station 14 and I knew you were the dude making pancakes.'"
The cause of the fire is under investigation.