DEWEYVILLE — On a sweltering Tuesday in southeast Texas 30 members of the Texas Brotherhood Ride pulled into Deweyville High School to wrap up another 100 mile leg of their Journey.
“It is hot,” said Houston Firefighter, Tim Dunn. “It’s blazing hot but because the winds blowing against you, but when you get off (it hits you).”
Dunn has been a Houston Firefighter of 22 years and is also a spokesperson for The Texas Brotherhood Ride, a yearly cycling journey by police, firefighters and EMS personnel to honor emergency responders who lost their lives in the line of duty. The cyclists also raise money for the families of the fallen heroes.
“It’s a constant yearlong fundraising effort,” said Dunn.
The Texas Brotherhood Ride started in 2014 as an extension of the original Brotherhood Ride. That fundraiser began in 2007 in Florida to honor 9 Charleston South Carolina firefighters who were killed in the line of duty.
“Everybody always says we never forget," said Dunn. "We are just trying to make sure they live on."
The ride this year started in Westwego, Louisiana just outside of New Orleans, and will end 600 miles away in San Antonio, honoring 11 people who have perished. Ryan Laird, also with the Houston Fire Department is participating in his first ride, making the journey for a fallen co-worker, HFD Captain, Bill Dowling.
“You look at the back of the guy in front of you and some of those guys are people that I knew,” said Laird. “And you think about them, and the pain, and suffering that they went through, it helps you push through 100 miles.”
If you would like to donate to the Texas Brotherhood Ride, you can find their website here.