A Day in the Life: Dinner at the Firehouse

Just like other families, Sedgwick County Fire District 1 (SCFD1) firefighters cook their meals together, sit down and eat together and all pitch in to help clean-up the kitchen at the end of the meal. Crews typically begin cooking their evening meal at 5:30 p.m. and sit down to eat together by 6 p.m.

Since they work 24-hour shifts, and want to be ready to respond to an emergency at a moment’s notice, they go grocery shopping up to three times a week. Crews pitch in a certain amount of their personal money every three weeks to help purchase groceries for meals that they cook together during their shift. A typical budget for a crew of six is $30-$40 a day, and that covers both lunch and dinner.

Grocery stores understand that they may get a call in the middle of shopping. If this happens, they put the cart in the refrigerator for the crew until they return. They also make sure the truck is parked close since it’s common for them to get an emergency call at least once a week while shopping.

If you ever see our crews out shopping, come say hi! They love visiting with people in the community and may even have a recipe to share!