According to Aspen Fire Chief Rick Balentine, he wasn't on a fundraising mission when he spoke at a luncheon last week. Balentine was just talking about how people can protect their homes and then someone asked what his department needs right now.  

Naturally, Balentine answered. He told the person that his department could use a new wildland fire truck that could easily get up mountain roads.

It was Boogie Weinglass, of course, who asked the question. And then he offered up $100,000. When firefighters were able to find a truck for $126,000, Boogie Weinglass ponied up all the dough needed to get it.

Balentine was surprised.

The $265,726 truck is the first new firefighting vehicle the all-volunteer department has ever purchased. Since its founding in 1985, the department has relied on hand-me-downs bought from other departments. The new truck replaces a 1976 Mack pumper truck that came from a Louisville-area department.

The restorations to the truck were all made possible through donations raised by the community and long hours working on the truck.

“Right about $5,000 right now, and about 200 or so man-hours in getting it to this point,” said Sawyer.

Assistant Fire Chief Bob Moore says he started his career on this same truck, almost 50 years ago.

“It means the world to me. That is actually the fire truck that I had started out on and it means a lot to the entire department,” Moore said.

The volunteer firefighters came to work Monday morning with shards of glass scattered outside the station.

"There were two busted windows, a lot of dents in the door, and blood all over the door from the guy who busted the windows," said Capt. David Morgan, with the Turley fire department.

The station includes five bays for trucks and a mezzanine for future expansion. The building’s low-profile post-tension concrete dome shell yields energy efficiency and moderates interior temps. Domes are built truss free, providing ample open spaces inside for community events and flexibility as station needs change. The building was designed “so that we have a future with it. It’s not just what we need right now; it’s built so that we can expand with the building,” Anderson said.