Anything for Gary

The Waseca Fire Department held a burger and fry fundraiser from 4-7 p.m. on Thursday, October 27. The noble cause was to support retired firefighter Gary Mulcahy, who lost his wife in a fatal house fire which also severely damaged his home.

The Fire Department served the meal of a burger and fries for $10. All meals were takeout with pickup on the northeast corner of the fire station.

According to Fire Chief Jason Forshee, the event didn’t take long to plan. “It only took these guys around two weeks to organize this,” he claimed. “We asked Gary if we could do this and he said yes.”

Mulcahy was a member of the Waseca Fire Department for 23 years before his retirement in 2013. Forshee said that giving back to their former comrade was a fitting gesture.

The Waseca Fire Department rallied the troops quickly to support Mulcahy, going as far as hiring retirees who knew Mulcahy to help out.

The burger fry also gave fire department cooks a perfect opportunity to test new equipment: “We’re putting our new fryers to the test,” said firefighter Nathan Gallagher. “We got them a few weeks ago because the fryers we had are about 30 years old. They were starting to become unreliable.”

Mulcahy’s sister was at the event and was humbled by the community’s support for her brother. “Thank you for doing this,” she told Forshee.

“Absolutely,” he replied. “We were a little leery at first, since we weren’t sure how Gary would feel about it. But he decided to let us do it.”

She chuckled. “That’s just how he is. Sometimes, you have to swallow your pride and ask for help.”

The burger fry benefit was such a success that the fire department ran out of food before 7 p.m. after serving 560 meals.