'We still have each other': Fairchild's fire department hosts cookout for military members affected by local fires

Aug. 24—Outside the garage of Fairchild Air Force Base's fire station Thursday, several fire trucks were parked to create a space for rows of tables, two bouncy houses for kids and a DJ to play feel-good tunes. Firefighters in military garb lingered throughout the station with their friends and families.

Fairchild's Wildland Relief Cookout aimed to support military members and families affected by the Oregon Road and Gray fires, which have burned several hundred structures and thousands of acres since breaking out last Friday.

"We didn't want school or work to get in the way of anything, we just wanted people to freely come up at the time of convenience for them," Division Fire Chief Kris Maynard said.

"We have a lot of military members that live in these areas," Maynard said.

Captain Teri Bunce, Chief of Public Affairs at the Fairchild Fire Department, said it wasn't until Monday morning that she started hearing about members of the military who had lost their homes.

"One group had a military-to-military couple whose house burned down, another one had a house of them, three airmen that were all roommates and sharing the same house, so they, they lost everything," Bunce said. "It just really started to hit home."

One table at the cookout was dedicated solely to pastries. Boxes of cookies and cupcakes donated from local bakeries, including Best Cookies Ever and Spokane Sweets, were set up on the table. There were even macarons, donated from Karolina's Macarons, that read "Thanks Firefighters."

Firefighters from the base fire department also were a part of the force fighting the Gray fire in Medical Lake.

"We sent probably nearly 25 firefighters to the Gray fire, and once the guys got back from the fire, they, I mean, beyond being exhausted, seeing all the homes that were lost, knowing that all the people that were going to be affected, they wanted to be able to provide a way to give back to the community," Maynard said.

Devyn Weaver, who was at the cookout, has been a firefighter for about a year and was one of those first responders at the Gray fire.

While Weaver was on duty, it was disheartening for him to see homes ignite and being unable to stop it.

"We were spread too thin," Weaver said. "As a first responder, you do your best just to throw your all at saving everything and the environment, people's lives, and their property and, when you just don't have the resources to do that, even though you're (there), it really is just one of the worst moments as a firefighter."

Jason Helgeson, another firefighter at the cookout who helped fight the Grayfire, gave his take on the event.

"We go out there and put our lives on the line, and these people are just like, have everyday lives and they're not expecting their houses to burn down and everything. So we just thought we'd try and give back to the community by having a cookout, inviting everyone out to try and just give back," he said.

The cookout featured traditional potluck food. Base volunteers barbecued hot dogs, and stacks of buns donated by Spokane's Franz Bakery Outlet sat on the long food table along with potato salad courtesy of Longhorn Barbeque and a black garbage bag full of donated bags of chips.

"The output of support from restaurants and food trucks are incredible. They're just like 'What do you need?' " Bunce said.

The fire department has been offered so many donations that they've had to redirect some.

Bunce recommended checking with the Red Cross on where to donate.

Military families seemed pleased by the cookout, Bunce said.

"I think they're just supportive of anything to return to a feeling of normalcy. They've been cooped up in hotel rooms, you know, kind of isolated, and I think it's good to get together to support one another and, not celebrating, but celebrating that we still have each other.

"It's also important not just for the families, but for the firefighters (who) went through something traumatic as well, whether they lost something or not last week, to take some down time to relax," Bunce said.

While food was a big part of the event, it wasn't the only piece.

"We're a large family in the military base, and so we just want to let them know that we're here for them," Maynard said before the event. "We're going to have the chaplains here, and we're going to have some mental health representatives here to see if there's anything further that we can do as a family and as a community."

Roberta Simonson's reporting is part of the Teen Journalism Institute, funded by Bank of America with support from the Innovia Foundation.