Liz Woodward approached two men at around 5:30 a.m., and one of them asked her to bring him the biggest cup of coffee they had.
Paul Hullings also mentioned that they had been up all night putting out a warehouse fire. His friend Tim Young, a fellow firefighter who was not at the fire, had taken him to the diner to celebrate finally getting off work.
Woodward decided a kind gesture was in order and took care of their bill, leaving a note of thanks on it.
Young went back on Facebook and encouraged people to donate to the campaign.
With his help, the initial fundraising campaign of $17,000 reached over $60,000.