Saline Firehouse Chicken Dinner Raises $5,000 Toward Purchase of Vehicle

The is $5,000 closer to having its wildland all-terrain vehicle after the Saline Firehouse Chicken lunch and dinner Aug. 6 at Saline Summerfest.

Firefighters barbecued 700 chickens and sold 665 chicken dinners during the fourth annual chicken broil, held by the Friends of the Saline Area Fire Department.

The event raised $5,000, which will be added to the previously raised $11,000 to put the department even closer to the $20,000 needed to buy the vehicle.

“We’d like to thank all of our sponsors and all of the members of the community who supported us by attending our chicken broil,” said Fire Chief Craig Hoeft. “Next year, we should surpass our goal and be able to purchase our vehicle.”

Hoeft said the vehicle will be used for wildland firefighting to transport patients injured in off-road situations.

“With budgets the way they are, it’s not something high on the list that we’d be able to purchase anytime soon,” Hoeft said.

The Aug. 6 Summerfest Pancake Breakfast at the fire hall served 175 people and raised $600 for the Saline Area Firefighters Association, which will use proceeds to help fund a Little League baseball team, the Christmas parade and other community initiatives. Organizers hope the pancake breakfast will become an annual event.

People who enjoy the culinary prowess of the Saline firefighters can enjoy their work at the Old Fashioned Ice Cream Social from 1-4 p.m. Sunday at the Weber-Blaess one-room schoolhouse, 520 Woodland Dr. Firefighters will grill hot dogs.