The program will begin by exploring why fire towers were needed, going back to the early 1900s on a national and state level. Then Laurie will focus on the local area, particularly Red Hill Fire Tower, 8 miles northeast of Grahamsville, and Balsam Lake Mountain, 20 miles northeast of Livingston Manor.

Enough money was raised to build four fire trucks at Ferrera Fire Apparatus in Livingston Parish. Former owner Chris Ferrera says $1.2 million was raised, and all of the trucks are still in use 16 years later.   

"Believe it or not, three are still in service with the city of New York," Ferrara said. "I was up there not too long ago and one of them was being serviced and it’s being used every day in the city of New York."

Ferrera says one truck was actually sent to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. It is currently in use by the Louisiana Fire Marshal’s Office.

An privately owned antique Brookdale firetruck lost its brakes coming down a steep hill on Larkspur Road in Brookdale on Monday, Sept. 11,, failed to negotiate a turn and slammed into a corner of the bridge across the San Lorenzo River.

A redwood tree prevented the 1970s-era rig from plummeting 20 feet into the San Lorenzo River in the accident, which occurred about 6:20 p.m.

The 5,300-square-foot station will include a chief’s office, training room, lounge and sleeping space, several bathrooms, a kitchen and conference room. The garage will be 64-feet-long and 56-feet wide, with enough room for three modern fire trucks. Owens has a corner office with two windows, which he said is two more than his office in the current Second Street fire station.

Evan Ricks is no stranger to responding to emergencies, but Monday, he responded to an unusual one -- one at the station he volunteers at. A tree fell on the roof, crushing it but sparing their trucks.

“21 years, I grew up and knew every guy on here,” Ricks said. “I started being a junior firefighter when I was 15.”

For him, he sees this place as a fortress, a place that helps keep others safe. That’s the Horse Creek Fire Station in southern Telfair County.