Firehouse Subs Gives Aid to Rescue Team

Firehouse Subs in the Fairfax Towne Center supplied 125 subs to the from Fairfax before they left for Japan on Friday, March 11.

The Fairfax County Fire Academy is located right down the road from Firehouse Subs.  All Fairfax County fire and rescue personnel train there before they are fully certified to go out on the line.  The Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) facility is also located on the same grounds.  They have one of the four best training facilities for search and rescue.  Firefighters from all over the world come to Fairfax to train.  Search and rescue dogs also train at the facility.

“Because we are next to them, we have a real strong relationship with the local firefighting community,” said Mark Gilbert, co-owner of Firehouse Subs.  “If they have a fundraiser, we help them out or give donations.  Also, if they have a last-minute event, they call us. 

So at 5 p.m. that Friday, the rescue team called and asked, “How long do you need in order to prepare food for 125 people?”  I called everyone that works with us to come in.  We made all 125 subs in the 2 hours before they had to leave.  That was the last real meal they ate."  During their trip, the rescue team ate Military MREs (Military Meal, Ready-to-Eat).”

But the Firehouse Subs shop does more than just prepare food for the firefighters to take with them on their deployments.  They often ride on the plane with the firefighters as they head to the disaster area.

“This time, the firefighters were able to sit down and eat while they were waiting for the plane to get ready.  We are really happy that we could help out and contribute to what they did.”

Every fall in September, over Labor Day weekend, all of the country’s state fire departments traditionally do a fundraiser for Muscular Dystrophy Association-Jerry’s Kids.  Gilbert explained, “If you ever see the firefighters down the road with the boots, that’s what the boot drive does.  So we send subs over there to feed the people who are doing this so they have something to eat and can focus on what they are doing.”

Having a special relationship with the fire department is really important to Firehouse Subs.  They not only donate food to the firefighters on different occasions, but also equipment such as infrared imaging cameras that can see through smoke and fire, really strong Jack Stands, and the Jaws of Life which are used to open wrecked automobiles.  Right after Hurricane Katrina, several fire departments were wiped out by the hurricane.  Firehouse Subs donated an entire truck to a Mississippi station that was destroyed.  “Being Firehouse Subs, that’s really part of our identity.”

The firefighters are also a huge part of this special bond.  “When we opened, they helped us out by donating all of the equipment in our shop- like the coats, the axes, oxygen packs…these were actually used by firefighters on the line.  When they couldn’t use them anymore, they gave them to us.” 

Gilbert pointed to the painting on the store’s wall.  “The mural is a depiction of the burn building they use and practice on down the road.  So that’s not just a general building that’s actually the building where recruits and people in retraining practice putting fires out.”

Firehouse Subs is a franchise, and Gilbert and his brother own the Fairfax shop.  The company started in Florida in 1994 by another set of brothers, Chris and Robin Sorensen.  The brothers were firefighters of the Jacksonville Fire Department and a part of a long line of firefighters in their family.  They became the black sheep of the family because they decided to start their own business.  Now they are successful with almost 400 stores in the nation, and a business that is growing rapidly. 

"Anytime a new restaurant is started in a community, Firehouse Subs immediately contacts the local fire department. We introduce ourselves and ask if the fire department has equipment or pictures they would like to donate.  The pictures in our Fairfax shop are all from Fairfax County fire fighting events.  These pictures and the equipment on our walls are not just decoration.  It’s apart of our core values.  It’s what we do.”

Correction: A previous version of this article indicated that the food was donated, but it was purchased.