A probationary firefighter in Missouri had an unusual initiation into the profession when her very first fire response involved tens of thousands of pounds of beef.
The Doolittle Rural Fire Protection District, which serves the small town of Doolittle, revealed that its only vegan recruit, Jenna Ulrich, was among those called out Monday morning to a tractor-trailer fire on Interstate 44 eastbound. The truck was hauling 40,000 pounds of ribeye steaks.
Ulrich, whose father Glenn is also a firefighter with the department, was assigned to the hose line and could be seen in footage shared by the district spraying down the burning trailer. Her father was working alongside her during the response.
“Nothing says ‘welcome to the fire service’ like sending the probie to put out 40,000 pounds of flaming ribeye!” the department joked in a Facebook post, highlighting the irony of its vegan firefighter taking on a beef-heavy blaze.
While the team managed to contain the fire, officials said the cargo of ribeye steaks was destroyed in the incident. “The steaks were a total loss,” the district confirmed.
The story quickly drew attention online for its mix of humor and irony, given Ulrich’s dietary choices. The Fox News report on the blaze noted that Ulrich’s experience was both memorable and a clear sign of the unpredictable nature of the job.