Rotary feeds fire department
Members of the Siloam Springs Rotary club are helping feed firefighters who are restricted to their respective fire stations because of the covid-19 pandemic.
Larry Kenmore, a member of the Rotary club, and Tim Davis, the current president of the club, ordered 15 meals from La Hacienda and delivered five to each of the fire stations in the city for the firefighters who were on duty, Kenmore said.
Kenmore and Davis delivered meals for three days in order to reach firefighters on every shift at every station, Kenmore said. Every fire
fighter works a 48-hour shift, according to Deputy Chief of Operations Brent Ford.
Kenmore and Davis brought lunch from La Hacienda on Friday, Saturday and Monday, Kenmore said. The Rotary members will not deliver on Sunday or Tuesday, but will be bringing lunch from the Rib Crib on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday of this week, Kenmore said.
Presently firefighters are not quarantined to quarters and are allowed to go home when they are not on shift, Ford said. However, when they are on shift they are restricted to the fire station unless they are responding to a call, Ford said.
The meals provided by Kenmore and Davis are making a difference with the firefighters on duty and making things run a little smoother, said Adam Rusk, battalion chief.
“The community as a whole has always been supportive in this town of the fire department,” Rusk said.
For Kenmore, this particular event is a labor of love. Kenmore is a retired firefighter/paramedic from San Diego, Calif., and knows about the dangers firefighters face. Firefighters don’t know what they will see at a call, Kenmore said. They may think they know, but surprises can pop up, Davis said.
Kenmore said one time he was sent out to resuscitate a lady who had a heart attack and there was a white powder next to the lady on a table. When Kenmore was finished, a second team of paramedics arrived in hazmat suits and informed Kenmore and his partner the white powder was a toxic substance and they needed to be quarantined, he said.
Kenmore said he does not remember what the white powder was.
“I have a heart for them,” Kenmore said. “They are on the front line and they are highly at risk.”
Kenmore served during the AIDS epidemic which was prevalent in the 1980s and said it was nothing like the covid-19 pandemic.
“For first responders it is worse than AIDS,” Kenmore said.