In the early days of my culinary career,  I would hear stories of my cousin feeding firefighters at fire camps across the west - the stories consisted of travel, camaraderie, camping, long hours, courage and a little fun too.  The elements that these teams faced during fire season was inspiring, it was my definition of 'worthwhile work' and an incredible cause.

 

In 2007, my cousin said his catering team needed a cook for that summer.  I would  join them in Pendleton, Oregon that season.
 
The fire life became something that I’d ever forget. There were 10 of us in the crew house from all over the country, we got to know each other like family. When there wasn’t a fire, we’d chat about life experiences, cooking, goals, we’d hike, hit the gym, have beers and we became part of the community in those months each year.  Let'ter Buck! 
 
Then we’d get the call. There’d be a fire, and it was time for us all to jump into action. It was a feeling of empowerment. Everyone’s got their gear packed, the government gives you coordinates to the incident, and the mobile kitchens are on their way within 4 hours. We were all focused on our mission:  Feed the heroes.
 
Every element of what our team did — including my part in cooking the food — had to be timed precisely to get the job done. The food had to be healthy, satisfying, to spec and…delicious. Not only was the food there to give them energy, but it kept their spirits high and gave them something to look forward to as they returned to camp each day.
 
I’d never felt that proud of anything I’d ever done. When I went back home at the end of each summer, I couldn’t get the experience out of my head.  I was determined to find my way back to that sense of adventure, to that feeling of honor, where I could channel my strengths into such a fulfilling cause. I wanted people to depend on me, and I wanted to come through for them in the best way I could.
 
Years later, my wife and I went all in on a mobile kitchen and were awarded a government Call When Needed contract that turned us into an official fire kitchen. We named our business Hold the Line Catering.

The thing about serving wildland firefighters is it's not a year-round job — the fire season has to come to an end. So, when we’re not feeding those on the front lines, we’re running our digital kitchen out of Denver, under the name Wildfire Sandwich & Salad