Butler fire Lt. Scott Longdon greets Judy Gould, who delivered a box full of food to firefighters Tuesday morning.

Four Butler firefighters spent their Christmas listening to emergency scanners and snacking on donated food.

They responded to calls, holiday or not. They joked with each other between jobs. That morning, they shared a Christmas feast-style breakfast featuring lasagna, and that night they cooked prime rib together.

Capt. Jim Kaufman said the holiday tends to be unmemorable for those on duty. Of his 28 years at the Butler Bureau of Fire, he's worked 10 or 12 Christmas Days, he estimated. “It's pretty quiet, usually,” he said.

Whether big emergencies break out or not, the sudden increase in food at the station is always consistent, he said.

“The community is pretty good to us,” Kaufman said. “It's actually a little overwhelming.”

So how did Kaufman and the others working draw the short straw to work on Christmas Day? They said it's just a matter of how the schedule is built. The department has 16 full timers and two part-timers. Four people are always on call, generally for 24 hours shifts. If you're on the shift that works Christmas Day, there's a good chance you'll keep working it for a couple years until a change in scheduling or a Leap Year knocks you off, Kaufman said.

There is a bit of rejiggering to accommodate families, though.

“We let the guys who have kids go home,” said Jeff Scott, another firefighter who worked Christmas. “We take care of each other that way around here.”

Read more in Wednesday's Butler Eagle.