The firemen of Orange Beach spend their days promoting safety and saving lives. Along with fighting fires, now the boys at the station are crusading against cancer.

Since March, the Fire Station 1 has housed a fire truck by the name of “Cindy,” unapologetically pink and adorned with signatures of cancer survivors. The firefighters use the truck to raise awareness about cancer and bring it to events to help raise funds for various charities.

The initiative began in October, when the fire station petitioned a national movement

called “Guardians of the Ribbon” to bring their tour to the Gulf Coast.

“It’s a grassroots movement,” Union President Asher Michon said. “The premise is firefighters taking a proactive stance.”

Familiar Feelings

Last year, Michon noticed an article in the International Association of Fire Fighters newsletter detailing a story that inspired familiar feelings. In Tyler, Texas, the fire department had joined the Guardians of the Ribbon movement. 

As part of their “Care Enough to Wear Pink” campaign, the organization started by a firefighter from Arizona tour the country with a fleet of pink fire trucks. Proceeds raised pump lifeblood into health initiatives in communities visited.

The Tyler, Texas, Fire Department had just acquired their own pink fire truck, named “Tonya” honoring a firefighter’s wife who had lost a battle with breast cancer. One of Orange Beach’s own firefighters was helping his wife with her own fight with the disease.

Searching for ways to help, Michon picked up the phone. After gathering advice on how to get started from Steve Countryman, the fire captain who organized the small Texas town’s “pink” initiative, Michon was directed to Dave Graybill, a Glendale, Ariz., firefighter who started the national nonprofit.

“We started selling pink T-shirts, and it started really growing,” Michon said. “At the end of last year, we ended up raising $50,000.”

A few weeks before the “Care Enough to Wear Pink” campaign made it down to Orange Beach, the firefighter’s wife passed away.

The pink truck is named in her honor.

Cindy’s Legacy

Since obtaining the pink fire truck, the Orange Beach chapter has started its own tour de force to raise money and awareness.

“We’ve had the truck painted for a few months, but it already has a fair amount of signatures,” Michon said.

Since Cindy’s completion, the firemen have already been striving to make an impact in surrounding communities. The local chapter has piped money into charities in Baldwin and Mobile counties, including Relay for Life events and hosting free health screenings for women at The Wharf.

“We held an event at the Wharf with a Precision Imaging doctor performing free physical exams, more than 200 early screenings,” Michon said. “It’s kind of neat premise, to advocate early detection.”

The firefighters also drove the truck to Cullman with food and other supplies after the April tornadoes tore through North Alabama.

The firemen also dress in pink fire suits and visit women’s homes that have suffered dire diagnoses.

“We advocate women. The goal is to let her know she’s not alone,” Michon said. “It’s all off duty. We work for hugs.”

Michon has big plans for the organization in Orange Beach.

“We’re on the ground floor right now,” Michon said. “Our goal last year was to get the pink fire truck.

Our next goal is to host the first ‘Pink Heals’ firehouse. That’s the pipe dream right now, a respite for women to stay at the beach with their families. They need to pay the medical bills, but they also need time with their families.”

The “Pink Heals” national tour will stop again in Orange Beach on Oct. 16.

Cancer Coalition: An Army of Love

Graybill founded the Pink Heals Foundation in 2007 after learning of a coworker’s family struggles with cancer. The coalition of cancer-fighting firefighters does not generate revenue, but generates funds for communities spanning the nation.

“Everything I have, I share,” Graybill said. “One hundred percent of proceeds raised in a community stays in that community. There’s no agenda, no dues. That’s the reason it’s perfect.”

“The organization is a movement. We’re men, and we’ve figured out how to rally and form an army of love,” he said.

The Pink Heals Foundation has incorporated thousands of communities across the U.S. It just kicked off its 2011 tour in early May. According to Graybill, it honors women and communities, not the disease.

“How do you inspire people to fight a war when it’s not their war? We hate cancer when it’s our mothers and our wives. How do you inspire people thousands of miles away to fight a war with you?”

Graybill said. “You do it in honor of a woman. Communities work together. It’s based on love, not a specific disease.”