WHITING, IOWA (KCAU) – Multiple fire crews have been called to battle some major fires over the past couple of weeks. That includes a fire in Moorhead, Iowa that burned more than 3200 acres. The majority of firefighters responding to these calls are volunteers. The Whiting Fire and Rescue Department was among the 20 stations called to assist in the Moorhead fire. But that hasn’t been the only fire call recently, prompting a local tavern to step up and help.

“It’s really heartfelt. It’s really touching to us to be able to see that support come to fruition,” Whiting Fire and Rescue Department Volunteer Katie Jorgensen said.

Katie Jorgensen is a Volunteer Firefighter and EMS for Whiting Fire and Rescue. Her department and many other fire crews have been called to battle the major Moorhead fire along with others in Onawa and Macy in the span of a week. This prompted the folks at buddy’s tavern to help out the volunteers

‘“Probably wednesday, thursday after the big Moorhead fire. Those guys have been out for like two days straight, and they really needed it,” Buddy’s Tavern Bar Manager Makenzie Struble said.

Makenzie Struble is a bar manager at buddy’s tavern. Last week, they began collecting water, gatorade, and money to donate to whiting fire and rescue.

“We always try to do fundraisers and stuff. We try to keep involved as much as we can. Whiting is one of the few schools that is only Whiting. We try to, Whiting tries to stay pretty tight knit,” Struble said.

This time of year is especially busy for Jorgensen who has to juggle her volunteer firefighting with her job and family.

“I work with farmers for a living. My husband runs a sprayer and I sell seed and everything, so this is our busiest time of year, but whenever there’s a fire call and you’re a volunteer, you make that commitment to go, so between no sleep and working with farmers and then having fires overnight, it was really tough,” Jorgensen said.

And now, the tavern has collected ten cases of water and two cases of beer.

“Otto Pub and Grub brought the beer, they brought the biggest donation. They were great and they came all the way down just for that,” Struble said.

“Whenever Buddy’s Tavern said that they wanted to help us out, it was like ‘Wow, really? That’s so amazing!’ because we just, you know, try to go out there and do a good job and to be recognized without being asked for it, it was really meaningful for a lot of us,” Jorgensen said.