Unloading donated cases of emergency drinking water March 17, 2021, at OCFD No. 2 fire station were, from left, J.D. Lohmeyer, Assistant Chief Scott Brenner, FHB owner Casey Mussatto, Mario Schutter, Colton Hallgren, Dee Long, Lt. Justin Wright, and Cody Wright. Osage County News photo.

OSAGE CITY, Kan. – Although a Budweiser semi-trailer backed up to Osage County Fire District No. 2’s fire station Wednesday morning, there wasn’t a St. Patrick’s Day party going on. Instead, Flint Hills Beverage employee Mario Schutter was unloading a supply of emergency drinking water, canned by Anheuser-Busch, to help provide hydration for local responders during this year’s wildfire season.

With recent wildfire conditions across Kansas and Osage County, Flint Hills Beverage, the local Anheuser-Busch wholesaler partner based in Osage City and Manhattan, arranged for 98 cases of emergency drinking water to be delivered March 17, 2021, to the fire station in Osage City.

J.D. Lohmeyer, Flint Hills Beverage sales manager, said the company was aware of recent efforts of local fire crews fighting numerous pasture fires in the area, and thought the Anheuser-Busch emergency water program would be able help out.

Noting Anheuser-Busch has a longstanding tradition of providing emergency drinking water for disaster relief efforts, Lohmeyer said, “We contacted them, and it only took about three days and the water was here.”

Anheuser-Busch periodically pauses beer production each year to can emergency drinking water to be ready during natural disasters and other crises. The water was donated through Anheuser-Busch’s partnership with the National Volunteer Fire Council.

OCFD No. 2 Assistant Fire Chief Scott Brenner said the fire department welcomed the donation and fire fighters would be able to use it during the Flint Hills fire danger season.

“We are very grateful for the donation of drinking water that was received from Anheuser-Busch, National Volunteer Fire Council, and Flint Hills Beverage,” Brenner said. “Firefighters use water to stay hydrated during incidents to keep them functioning at their best, and the donation couldn’t have come at a better time as we are currently in the grass fire season.”

Brenner said the department consumes approximately 60 cases of water per year during all types of calls, either during structure fires, grass fires, or event standbys on hot days.

“Again thank you to Anheuser-Busch, National Volunteer Fire Council, and Flint Hills Beverage,” Brenner said.

The beer brewer teamed up with the NVFC in 2019 to provide emergency drinking water to help firefighters stay hydrated and healthy when responding to wildfires and large incidents. To date, the program has donated more than 3.2 million cans of water to volunteer firefighters across the country.

For more information about the OCFD No. 2 water donation, contact Lohmeyer at jlohmeyer@flinthillsbeverage.com. For more information about the emergency drinking water program, see www.nvfc.org/water.

Flint Hills Beverage employee Mario Schutter unloads a pallet of emergency drinking water at OCFD No. 2 fire station in Osage City.