EAST ST. LOUIS , ILLINOIS—
Firefighters got a little help from a fire chief and a generous entrepreneur taking to the streets. They took to the streets Sunday, and took money matters into their own hands."Man it's smelling real good!" says Duwayne Myers, standing behind his barbecue grill. "Best beef hot dogs in East St. Louis!"Then he steps away from the grill, and to the front of the store, with a flier in one hand a firefighter's boot in the other. "Man we are having a big party for the fire department, come on - bring your kids!" he starts yelling at passersby on State Street. "Bring your kids! Free hot dogs!" He's desperate to help the firefighters in his hometown. And his hometown is broke.
"They are some hard working people," Myers says of the East St. Louis Fire Department. ""We have a lot of people who talk bad about East St. Louis, but they don't do anything. I'm just trying to help. I want to show people: don't talk about the city if you're not gonna try to help out."K.D. Sharp is one of the 13 firefighters laid off by the city this summer. "The transition has been a process no doubt," he says. "I'm trying to make it. I have children to take care of and myself. Lost my health insurance, my supplemental health insurance. I'm looking for a job, on the internet, in the classifieds. But it's tough right now."
Myers called Fire Chief Jason Blackmon and together they dreamed up the one day street corner donation drive and cook off. All the money raised will go to the laid off firefighters, and the shorthanded staff that remains on the department. They are down to an average of nine firefighters per shift, and they need updated equipment to stay safe."I would like to give kudos to the guys who are here, we have over 1100 calls for the year, averaging two or three structure fires a day, and they're doing an excellent job getting things done," he says. "We had five structure fires Friday night.
The guys put out every last one of them. They started at 12:00 and we finished at 7:00 a.m." "And It's a tough time for the guys who got laid off," says Blackmon. "We wanted to do something nice for them, even if it's just giving them some money for gas to get around, get a job interview or something."Sharp is thrilled "Yeah! I need groceries!"He says he is considering applying for jobs at different departments, though it would involve leaving the city where he grew up. "But that is being entertained," he says.
Chief Blackmon has high hopes. "I hope one day they come back to be East St. Louis firemen, and retire as East St. Louis firemen, but in the mean time I hope they get something to support their families, so they can be a dad to their children." Myers is from East St. Louis, too. "This can be a nice city. There are good people here." He's one of them.
