Shortly after I'd sufficiently recovered from my Katrina and Rita experiences, I joined the local Red Cross' Disaster Action Team (DAT). DAT members come from all walks of life: the group I'm most often with includes a Lubbock County Commissioner and a retired Southwestern Bell Linesman. All three of us were in the Army.

Although we are responsible for nineteen counties, we've had relatively few calls considering the fire situation in Texas right now. Last night, though, my “day job” and my “night job” collided as we were called out to feed the Slaton Fire Department as they tackled a 3,000 bale cotton warehouse fire. The sun had set by the time we made the coffee, picked up the burgers and fries and headed towards Slaton, a small community about fifteen miles from Lubbock. Despite it being pitch black, we started seeing the smoke about five miles out. We picked up the glow of the fire a mile later.

We pulled up on the leeward side of the conflagration to find out where the fire department wanted us to stage. As I stood there, a mere twenty feet from the fire, I was initially stuck by the lack of smell. It just didn't smell like a fire, in fact, there was barely any odor at all. Then, as a giant 500 pound bale of flaming cotton dropped six feet to the ground, I realized where I was standing and took a step back.

We passed out a few meals before driving around to the windward side of the fire where the bulk of the firemen were. Slaton's fire department is primarily a volunteer department. They all have day jobs and other places to be, but when we showed up they were thanking us! It really should have been the other way around, but I'm beginning to understand that the service we provide to first responders, while different, is really no less important than the role we provide to victims.

Once the guys on the line we taken care of, we drove over to the firehouse to feed the boys monitoring the radios. We had a few extra burgers so they invited us to stay and eat with them. I got to eat in a firehouse! Sure, it sounds silly, after all it's just a building, but it was a neat experience.