In the living room, children play
on the floor while their parents sit in armchairs, dinner plates in their laps.
Around the corner in the kitchen,
other parents and kids sit around a dinner table, a full Thanksgiving spread
sitting on the counter nearby.
It could be any number of holiday
gatherings, but this one was happening at Raytown Fire Protection District
station No. 2 on Saturday night, where the 5 firefighters and paramedics on
duty invited their families in for their own holiday dinner and tree trimming
party.
“On holidays, we gather together
just like any other family” states Captain Phillip Giegerich.
“We spend about one-third of their
lives together in this station and we always say that this is our second
family," explains Interim Fire Chief Matt Mace
At the Raytown Fire Protection
District, three crews split up 24-hour shifts that start and end at 7 a.m. So
there's a one-in-three chance that your crew will be working on Thanksgiving or
any other single holiday.
The firefighters, and their
families enjoyed a wide-ranging spread on Saturday: turkey, ham, green-bean
casserole, cheesy corn, all manner of pies.
Following dinner all of the
children and grandchildren helped decorate the fire station Christmas
tree.
"My daughters and
grand-daughters love it," said Tom Ratterman, a firefighter/paramedic.
"They like to see what I do and the people I work with."
Of course, one key difference
between this gathering and those elsewhere is that many members of this
"family" may at any moment be called to don fire gear and head out to
an emergency.
Several family members can recall
sitting down to a Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner here, only to have the
alarms go off right away.
“We just keep eating and wait
patiently for our husbands and dads to return”, Val Ratterman states. "When
the alarm sounds, they go, and we know to just hang out and they will return as
soon as they can," Val said.
If you would like more information about this posting or the Raytown Fire Protection District in general please contact Matt Mace at 816-737-6034 or email at Mattm@raytownfire.com.
