Dennis Leary, Rachael Ray Give $25K To Edison Fire Dept.

EDISON, NJ — TV chef Rachael Ray and actor Denis Leary stopped by the Edison Twp. firehouse on Rt. 27 earlier this week, honoring the firefighters by throwing them a special buffet luncheon.

The celebrity duo also came bearing a pretty sizable holiday gift, announcing a $25,000 grant for the Edison Fire Department. The money will be used to purchase new fire training equipment to teach families and children how to properly use fire extinguishers at home, work and school, according to Fire Chief Brian Latham.

Fire safety is near to Leary's heart, after a fatal 1999 warehouse fire in Worcester, Massachusetts claimed the life of his cousin, a childhood friend and five other firemen.

The $25,000 grant comes from the Leary Firefighters Foundation. Rachael Ray serves on the foundation’s board of directors.

Edison is one of several fire departments across the country to receive Leary Foundation grants this year. It was Edison Township Fire Marshal Timothy Langan who first applied for a Leary Foundation grant earlier this year, saying his office gets many requests for demonstrations about how to properly use fire extinguishers. The Edison FD teaches these classes at schools, community meetings, hospitals and nursing homes.

Edison is a fully professional (paid), not volunteer, fire department.

You can watch the celebrity visit to the Edison Firehouse #4, on Rt. 27, when it airs on the “Rachael Ray Show" this Monday, Dec. 23. It will air at 2 p.m. on ABC Channel 7 in the New York area and ABC Channel 6 in the Philadelphia area.

“Edison is extremely grateful to the Leary Firefighters Foundation for its generosity, providing our firefighters with funding for such a valuable training tool to help keep our families safe,” Edison Mayor Thomas Lankey said. “It is especially wonderful that Mr. Leary joined Rachael Ray at our firehouse and they spent so much of time getting to know our firefighters and recognizing them for their dedicated community service."

Rachael Ray created the recipes for Monday’s firehouse luncheon, prepared by her friend, Manhattan caterer Mary Giuliani, a frequent guest on Ray's popular daytime TV show.