Firefighters flip stacks of jacks
Karen Peterson
Brothers Caleb Clark, 4, and Caydan Clark, 9, help cook eggs at the Fireman’s Picnic Breakfast in Arlee. The brothers are grandchildren of former Arlee fire chief Don Henderson, who passed away last year.
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ARLEE – Hundreds of people filled the old firehouse throughout the morning to attend the Fireman’s Picnic Breakfast on the Fourth of July.
“We served about 600 cups of coffee,” Arlee Volunteer Fire Chief Dane Morigeau said. He estimated that about 1,600 pancakes were served, usually two at a time.
Brothers Caydan Clark, 9, and Caleb Clark, 4, helped whip up different styles of eggs to top off those pancakes. They noted that scrambled eggs are the easiest to make. Caydan said he learned to make eggs with his grandfather Fire Chief Don Henderson, who passed away last year.
“We do this to remember our grandpa and to help the firemen,” he said.
Firefighters and other volunteers served the breakfast to raise funds for operating costs and equipment.
“We are working on getting smaller infrared units,” Morigeau said.
He explained that the hand-held units make it possible to see heat signatures in a dark room.
“If we go into a burning building, we can find people with this,” he said. “You can see heat signatures in the dark.”
Arlee Ambulance Director Jim Thornton said the heatsensing units would help his team as well.
“Without them, we don’t know if a person is trapped inside,” he said of responding to an emergency. “We often rely on neighbors or family to find out if someone is in a house.”
Each unit costs about $1,500.
“We want to get one for the inside team and one for the outside team,” Morigeau said.
The pancake breakfast is projected to bring in enough funding to buy those units and other needed equipment. Morigeau took over as chief about a year ago, but he says the department is run as a team.
“This is a member-run department,” he said adding that they could always use more volunteers.
