Blizzard Spaetzle, 1996.
They claim there were no heroics involved. That neither altruism
nor dedication to the public good was a consideration when the firefighters
assigned to Engine 17 on Clinton Place in Newark helped the Red Cross deliver
life-saving medicine to snow-bound city residents during the state-crippling blizzard
of 1996.
“It was really just a hunt for food,” admits Capt. Michael
McCarthy when he describes the foray that took the engine’s First Tour out into
the blizzard with shovels.
Newark’s Bravest were still working on the old eight-day rotation;
two nights on, three days off, two days.
The captain had prepared carefully for the predicted two-day
storm. On his way in to work Sunday, he stopped for raviolis and sausages at
one store, meat from his favorite butcher shop, flour, eggs, sundries from the
supermarket. He was prepared to work an extra shift, fully expecting the night
tour to extend well into the next day.
But while the forecasters had predicted a major storm, most
of the state was unprepared for intensity and duration of the blizzard. Schools
(of course) close. Malls closed. Municipal and state offices closed. The
governor declared a state of emergency, barring all but essential personnel and
emergency vehicles from the roads. Eventually, even the highways closed.
“Even the Pathmark on Lyons Avenue was closed,” McCarthy
said.
But with all the stops along the way, McCarthy figured he
had provisions to last through his expected extended shift. Sunday dinner was
covered; Monday’s lunch was to be left-overs. And McCarthy had plucked the venison
roast from the freezer and set it marinating in pickling spices by noon for a
sauerbraten and spaetzle dinner on the second night.
“There’s no place, really, to eat in this neighborhood, even
on good days,” McCarthy said of the neighborhood as it was almost 20 years ago.
“It’s mostly residential, and the few eateries there are, are less than
healthy, so we cook.”
The crew was hunkered down in the firehouse for the duration
of the storm; Sunday into Monday, Monday into Tuesday.
“By Tuesday we were going a little stir crazy,” McCarthy
said. And the pantry was running low on flour and eggs for spaetzle (to cook
with butter and onions).
When they got a call for a box on South Orange Avenue and 14th
Street, they took advantage of being out to forage for food. That’s when they
found the Red Cross van stuck in the snow.
McCarthy and Firefighters Jack Hurle, Joseph Mahoney and
Frank LaGates headed out but were soon stymied by the accumulated snow; the
crew swung the Engine out onto Springfield Avenue and tried heading south,
changed direction, but still couldn’t find their way to the box.
“Snow had closed the cross streets,” McCarthy said.
They gave up trying to answer the box and were returning to
quarters when they heard the dispatchers assigning city sanitation crews to
help a Red Cross van that was stuck in the snow.
“We called in that we could get to that location if city
sanitation plowed a cross street,” McCarthy said.
But even with plows, the Engine couldn’t reach the van. The
crew finally abandoned the rig in neighboring Irvington and walked several
blocks to the mired van. They were joined by Firefighter Marcus L. Johnson who had
been off, but heard the call over his radio and decided to hike out to meet his
crew.
On arrival, the crew put their backs into the task and
shoveled out, not just the van, but the entire street.
“It was great just seeing the look on the driver’s face. It
made us all feel good,” McCarthy said. “But it was eerie; there was no one
outside, no one driving at all.”
Although someone did ring the firehouse doorbell on Sunday
night to report he had been car-jacked.
"I called it in to dispatch; I knew the cops would get
a kick out of it. Three feet of snow and someone gets himself car-jacked.”
By the time relief arrived on the third day; McCarthy and
his crew were exhausted.
And so was the pantry.
BLIZZARD SPAETZLE:
2 eggs
1 cup flour
1 pinch nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
Enough chicken stock or water to ensure gooey dough
Salted boiling water in a large stewpot
Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl
Crack in the eggs, mix well with a spoon or spatula
Dough should be gooey without being runny or stiff
If stiff add liquid to loosen; or add flour if dough is runny
Turn the dough onto a medium sized cutting board and cut ribbons with a
large, wet chef’s knife.
Drop directly into the salted boiling water. Cook about 3 minutes (until
firm) in small batches. Scoop out finished noodles, drain and serve with gravy
from main dish or sauté in butter with onions.
“The spaetzle goes great with just about anything,” McCarthy said. “It
really saved us during the storm; eggs, flour and salt.”
