Fairfax Co. firehouse tradition continues around custom-built table

The custom-built dining table at Station 38 in Fairfax County weighs 400 pounds. (Capt. John Morris)
The top of the custom dining table at Station 38 features the logos of each Fairfax County Fire station. (Capt. John Morris)
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Meera Pal, wtop.com

WASHINGTON – Sitting down to dinner is one of the most important moments of the day for most families. The same is true for the firefighters at Station 38 in Fairfax County.

“Breaking bread together is an incredibly important part of what we do,” says Capt. John Morris.

These days the firefighters have been gathering at a specially-designed and hand-crafted dinner table that was created just for them. And, now all 11 firefighters can sit down at the same time.

Morris says the station needed a new table, but wanted something that better fit into its awkward dining room. The three, old four-by-eight rectangular tables firefighters were using took up too much space and were inefficient at dinner time.

The station’s new round table is 8-feet in diameter and covered in the same diamond plate used on fire trucks and made mostly of steel. While it’s not fireproof, it may be firefighter-proof.

It took about a year from concept to construction to build the 400-pound table,” Morris says.

Some of the materials were donated, while the others were financed by the county and the firefighters.

Lt. John Smith — now at a different station — finished building the table on his off time, Morris says.

One of the more special aspects of the massive table is the top, which features the station’s logo, along with the logo of every station in the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department.

“It is very durable and it will be around long after we’re gone,” Morris says.

H/T @Centreville Patch. Follow WTOP on Twitter.

(Copyright 2011 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)

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