While most will be gathered around a table with family and friends celebrating Thanksgiving Day today, first responders will be on call for any emergencies that may occur. The men and women in shift C at Fire Station No. 8, 130 Halls Ferry Road, will be serving out their 24-hour shift duty during this holiday, but have all decided to come together and cook a meal.
“We decided last week that we would all cook together, and we threw out ideas on who was going to cook what and what we were going to need,” Captain Sam Brocato said.
“I jumped in and said I was going to cook the turkey because I have got one of those oil- less turkey fryers,” Brocato said.
And he said he was planning on making a green bean dish his mother taught him how to make.
“It’s got green beans, sausage and potatoes in it,” Brocato said.
Others in the crew have signed on to bring or make the dressing, sweet potato casserole and desserts.
Crewmember Sheda Wilson said she would be preparing macaroni and cheese for the dinner.
With the shift beginning at 7 a.m., Brocato said the plan is to begin cooking early so the food would be ready around 10:30 or 11 a.m.
“That way we can nibble the rest of the day,” he said.
Celebrating the holidays at work is part of the job, Wilson said, and even though it can be a bummer being away from family, she said most people do get used to the schedule.
Shift C will work Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve, Brocato said, and will be off Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and New Years Day.
“I was on A shift, for 15 years and for 12 of those 15 years I was working every holiday,” Brocato said.
“But there were times a captain who was on his day off, would come in and tell me to go home and visit with my family for a couple of hours,” he said.
Now as a captain, Brocato said he has done the same.
“We always try to look out for each other when we can,” he said.

Brocato’s green bean recipe
• Bag of whole green beans
• Potato
• Smoked sausage
• Onion
• Salt
• Pepper
• Garlic salt
• Tony Chachere’s instant roux mix
Directions
Cut the potato into cubes. (Brocato said he puts the potato in the microwave for just a minute to soften it up.) Cut the smoked sausage into quarters. (Brocato uses green onion smoked sausage). Place the green beans in a boiler with about ½ cup of water and let them cook down a little bit.
Add the potato, sausage and seasonings and cook. Add a little bit of the Tony Chachere’s instant roux mix for a little gravy and cook until the beans are soft.