BRENTWOOD, Calif. — A woman confronted a fire chief at a grocery store for buying $24 worth of cookies for firefighters who had been battling a house fire for hours.
Contra Costa Times reported that the woman raised an eyebrow after seeing four boxes of cookies among the groceries the chief was loading into his truck from the Safeway grocery store.
“She just didn’t think we should be buying treats for the firefighters,” Chief Hugh Henderson, with the East Contra Costa (Calif.) Fire Department, said.
Henderson said the cookies, along with 30 turkey sandwiches, Gatorade and chips, were for the firefighters who were battling a house fire. He said crews normally pay for their own meals, but district policy allows the department to pick up the tab if firefighters are on-scene for longer than four hours.
Firefighters were still cleaning up seven hours after the blaze began, and those who left earlier still needed to eat so they could jump on another call. The grocery store tab came out to $250.59.
The chief said given the district’s shortage of firefighters, he’s buying meals once or twice a month to keep crews going.
“We’re busy all the time now. Our crews have very little downtime,” Chief Henderson said.
A restaurant owner who heard about the incident decided to counter the criticism with a gesture of appreciation. They prepared and delivered a meal for every firefighter on duty at all three stations.
The co-owner of the restaurant said she was disappointed that the woman at the grocery store couldn’t put the cookies purchase into perspective, according to the report.