Bend firefighters help out hard-hit Houston crews

The Bend Fire Department is helping out their brothers in storm-hit Houston by giving them the shirts off their backs — literally.

The Texas state fire marshal sent out a call for the help to fire stations across the country, asking for uniform shirts, which fire crews use on a daily basis.

As many of the Houston firefighters are trying to rebuild their own lives and homes while helping others, the Bend Fire Department answered that call.

The department sent 60 T-shirts 2,000 miles away to the Lone Star state earlier this month.

“We actually had switched our shirts to something less expensive, so we had some of our older-style shirts on the shelf,” Bend Fire Inspector Steve Stenkamp said Friday. “And I thought this would be a great way to repurpose them, to send them to Texas, so those guys can get on and start rebuilding their lives.”

Stenkamp said he hopes the shirts will at least help out the firefighters get through their day as they help their city begin to rebuild from the devastating hurricane and flooding.

“I really hope there’s a firefighter in Houston that wears a Bend Fire Department T-shirt, and he gets it dirty, sweaty and covered in paint as he rebuilds his home,” Stenkamp said.

It’s yet another example of firefighters helping each other out during a time of need.