How you can thank the Two Bulls firefighters

A cookie drive has been organized to collect cookies for firefighters battling the Two Bulls Fire, but can they accept them? A cookie controversy is born.

The firefighters don’t usually accept food, but they do accept support.

“Earlier today, my kids were out here waving at all the trucks and everything,” Trevor Lugers said Tuesday. He and his family were evacuated on Saturday, but were able to return the next day.

“When we came back, it was just like, ‘Ah, thank you!” said Lugers.

They wanted to express their gratitude the best that they could,

“My wife wanted to go make brownies for everyone down there,” he said. “But I was like, ‘We can’t! There’s like a thousand people down there.”

Lugers was right, so they made a thank-you sign instead.

“One of the best things for us that we really appreciate is just seeing the signs,” Deputy Incident Commander Link Smith told us. “We’ve got a thousand people out here, and if we happen to get them sick by giving them food that hasn’t been cooked in the right kitchen or heated to the right temperature or whatever it might be” — there’d be trouble.

Health risks aside, food donations can also be distracting.

Fire Information Officer Jean Nelson-Dean told us, “It’s very difficult for us on the incident to kind of manage the logistics of it.. we don’t have storage for it. So we have to figure out how to coordinate it.”

So what can you do?

You can donate to your local Red Cross (http://www.redcross.org/or/bend/ways-to-donate or 541-382-2142) or the Wildland Firefighters Foundation, which helps the families of fallen firefighters (www.wffoundation.org).

Or you can make “Thank You” signs, thank a firefighter in person.

So if you want to thank a firefighter, simplicity is key.

“A handshake and a thank you really goes a long way,” Smith said.

At last report, the cookie drive is still a go, despite the controversy. It will be help in Columbia Park in Bend between 11am – 2pm on Wednesday.

Here’s the link to the event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1415223812094336/?fref=ts