By Mary Owen
When the Niagara fire broke out near Big Cliff Dam last month, Trexler Farm employees took on the job of feeding the hot and hungry firefighters.
“On the Fourth of July, I got a call telling me a fire broke out near Detroit, and that they were going to need about 65 lunches for the crews coming in to fight the fire,” said owner Sharlene Trexler. The early afternoon call came from Chad Montoya, the business manager for the North Cascade District of the Oregon Department of Forestry.
“Later that day, Chad asked if we could provide breakfast in the morning for the crews working overnight, and lunches for Sunday,” she added. “I said that would be no problem. Then the fire grew quickly, and they called in more resources. The crew numbers kept growing, as did the fire, so the meals kept growing.
“By Monday, there were over 150 fire crew members at each meal.”
Trexler and her staff served more than 450 meals on peak days, and more than 2,200 over the course of the 10-day burn.
“Breakfast was at 5:30 a.m. and then they had a daily meeting at the fire station at 7 a.m. to plan their day,” she said. “We prepared their sack lunches by 8 a.m. and then they came back for dinner at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m.”
The Niagara fire burned until July 13, leaving 79 acres scorched.
Trexler Farm customer Steve Wilson, district forester with the North Cascade District, had approached Trexler a few years ago to help provide sack lunches to the fire crew during the summer fire season, but even he didn’t expect the work to last as long.
“The Niagara fire was in some steep terrain with hot temps, and the district was lucky to have some very good people help keep this fire small,” Wilson said. “Good food kept the folks strong, working hard, and kept the morale up. Sharlene cares about her community and the people she provides food for, and it showed in each meal she served.”
Trexler and her staff worked to keep things interesting and different, since their “guests” were eating at the same place every day for 10 days.
Photo by Kathy Sherman – Rust Bucket Photography
“For dinners, we did themes,” Trexler said. “Mexican fiesta-taco salad bar and enchiladas with Mary’s homemade salsa and freshly made guacamole, Italian pasta and lasagna dinner night, seafood evening with baked herbed salmon, Thanksgiving night with roasted sweet potatoes and apple pie – we even did prime rib dinner one night!”
Breakfasts included usual Trexler Farm fare such as green-chili casserole, breakfast burritos, eggs, sausage and more, she said.
“They were working very hard so their appetites were large,” she added. “One morning we went through almost 500 eggs. They even had some specific requests like chocolate milk!”
Trexler had 14 people staffing the eatery that week, she said.
“I had to hire five new people in one day to meet the immediate demand,” she said. “I got e-mails, phone calls and texts from people offering to help. Many of them would come at 4:30 in the morning to help with breakfast, then go to their day job, and come in again to help with dinner. We live in such an amazing community of people who are willing to help each other when needed or asked.”
Some of the challenges include planning menus, shopping, preparing meals one day at a time, and even taking care of the trash, she said.
“Try throwing a party for 150 people a couple of times a day for a week,” she said. “We were also catering events and open for lunch during this time.”
On Facebook, Trexler jokingly began calling herself the “mayor of Crazy Town.”
“Self-appointed, and Jim Burns is my postmaster and Tammi Burns is my city council,” she said.
Trexler credited the loyalty and dedication of her staff for accomplishing everything that was done.
“One of the surprises I learned during this fire is that many of the fire crews were contracted through the Oregon Department of Corrections,” she said. “Most of the men fighting this emergency were inmate work crews from all over the state. They are non-violent offenders who have made mistakes and are paying their debt to society.”
Trexler said many of the men feel privileged to be on the firefighting crews, earning $3 a day for use in the prison commissary and $3 in cash in a savings account for when they are released at the end of their sentence.
“In talking to them every day, I found out that they are treated very poorly by society,” she said. “Many of them feel like they have no hope and that people really don’t care about them. When they were here, we treated them as we would any other Trexler Farm customer. Happy to see them. Happy to feed them. Happy to have them in our Trexler Farm family. We look forward to seeing them all when they get done with their ‘vacation.’”
Trexler is thankful for the many friends she made, many of whom she still keeps in touch with.
“The best part is the letters I am now getting from them, and the e-mails I am getting from their families,” she said.
With the fire behind her, Trexler is also happy to call it business as usual at her Stayton eatery, on Ferry Road off Highway 22. And should another fire break out, she and her staff will be happy to step in and serve firefighters once again.
“The North Cascade District is lucky to have Sharlene as a resource to call on day or night,” said Wilson. “And I have called her very late!”
