Crowds pack fire department pancake feed

Published 2:29 pm Monday, October 5, 2026

Lines stretched out the door Oct. 4 for the Blair Fire Department’s pancake feed, which raised money for a $70,000 highway strut kit.

Jake Dunn, the city’s public safety and communications coordinator, who also serves with the volunteer department, said preliminary numbers show the event beat last year’s total of about $12,000 to $13,000. Sales of $10 challenge coins added a couple hundred dollars.

Dunn credited the weather, the department’s growing social media presence and a clear fundraising goal.

“You’re no longer coming to these events with, ‘Hey, we just want donations,'” he said. “We’re actually saying, ‘Hey, we want donations for X, Y and Z,’ so people know where their money’s going to.”

Firefighters demonstrated the struts by removing a car door. The kit can stabilize or lift vehicles and rail cars to free trapped people. Dunn said it is faster to assemble than the department’s older equipment and is interchangeable with kits owned by the Herman and Bennington departments. The push for the equipment followed the Aug. 9, 2025, storm, when crews from across the county and Omaha worked to lift a tree off a camper at Riverview.

“In our field, you need to be as quick as possible,” Dunn said.

KETV also covered the event, which Dunn said he believes is a first for the pancake feed.

Dunn said the event lets residents meet firefighters outside an emergency.

“You may see me when you’re struggling to breathe, and we can’t really have that conversation,” he said. “Now, ‘Hey, thanks for saving my life.’ … You can humanize the badge a little bit.”

Upcoming public safety events include a softball tournament Oct. 11, the police department’s Lights and Frights on Oct. 28, and a trunk-or-treat with Great Plains Communications on Oct. 29.