A 1991 Darley Pumper truck is being prepared for its future home on Hat Island. The island is in Possession Sound between Everett and Whidbey Island. It has a small year-round population as well as a number of weekend and summer homes.

Its fire department has an annual budget of around $70,000. Most of that goes toward insurance, training, equipment and maintenance, Fire Chief Michael Worthy said.

The rig is made from two separate 1937 fire engines and took 10 years to refurbish after it was donated to the Detroit Firemen's Fund.

Nowicki said, 'The front half was destroyed on one and the back half was destroyed on the second so we married them together."

Two engines brought together that will lead hundreds of men brought together by a brotherhood.

The ALF Engine 3 will only remain in its current reserve status until the new Engine is up and running.

The old engine has served Coldwater for 27 years but it has shown its age in recent years.

According to a post on the fire department’s Facebook page, the department has been unable to find replacement parts and the ALF has failed its last couple of pump tests.

The bill would give $25,000 to volunteer firefighters who contract types of cancer including melanoma, digestive, hematological, lymphatic, urinary, prostate, neurological, breast and reproductive.

If a firefighter is unable to work due to illness, the bill grants firefighters 36 months of $1,500 in disability benefits.

And if a firefighter dies, the bill provides a $50,000 benefit to the firefighter's family.

Currently, volunteer firefighters are not afforded disability or health protections except through the Volunteer Firefighters' Benefit Law, which provides a maximum of $600 a month in disability benefits, according to the bill's introductory memo.

Local fire departments, districts or municipalities will pay for the expanded benefits, according to the legislators who sponsored the bill, Sen. Joseph Griffo (R-Rome) and Anthony Brindisi (D-Utica). 

Fire trucks will arrive from four different states for the event, which will also feature a historic Charlotte Fire Department steam-powered pumper, the 200th anniversary of the Salisbury Fire Department, a fire truck parade, and the Norfolk Southern Lawmen Band giving a special tribute to a founding member.

The main attraction is, of course, the largest gathering of fire trucks for a public event in the state of North Carolina, with fire trucks, emergency vehicles, the N.C. Forest Service helicopter, kids’ activities, and rescue demonstrations.