He reached out to Bridgeport Volunteer Fire Department in Logan Township to ask about a vehicle they had that was no longer in service. He was able to arrange delivery of that truck to Texas and it remains in service 20 years later.

Since then, he has arranged for donations of old fire trucks and used equipment on 10 to 15 occasions, he estimates. Companies around South Jersey have contributed equipment. Most of the donations go to companies in southern states, he said.

The latest donation comes courtesy of Erial Fire Company in Gloucester Township, which is sending a 1990 Grumman pumper truck to the fire company in Coffee City, Texas, a rural community east of Dallas.

"This is the last historic fire station that the city still owns," Ferraro said.

After the first phase of renovations, the 109-year-old former KDPS building will serve as a community resource center, hosting programming by the city's Parks and Recreation Department and other community events.

The community is invited to take a tour and celebrate its reopening from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 18. Residents can learn about the history and future use of the building, hear from a former firefighter who was stationed at the firehouse, learn about upcoming programming, and enjoy complimentary refreshments from area restaurants.

Station 5 is located on the corner of Douglas Avenue and North Street, near the Stuart, Northside and Douglas/Fairmont neighborhoods. Ferraro said the new building will house various kinds of meetings, events and after-school and summer camp programs held by the parks and recreation department.

The station was built to accommodate Kalamazoo's growing population in the early 1900s. Its typical characteristics include a gabled roof, stucco and half-timbered walls, and large arches with keystones. The columns are decorated with imposts.

Van Volkenburg was a Kalamazoo architect who also designed Engine House 3 on Charlotte Street and Fire Station 6 at the southwest corner of Wheaton and South Westnedge Avenues, as well as the demolished Central Fire Station formerly at the northeast corner of East Lovell and South Burdick Streets

The station's opening adds an additional engine, ladder truck and medic unit to the county's fleet.

Fire Station 10 was relocated fro Russell Road and Buford Drive to a new building at 1131 Rock Springs Rd. in unincorporated Lawrenceville.

“You’re looking at a truck of this caliber at a $100,000 so with this donation we can use that $100,000 towards bringing up our fleet or another truck,” Joe Foster, Fire Chief of Livingston Parish Fire Department.

The August flooding in Louisiana was dubbed as the worst natural disaster in the US since Hurricane Sandy in 2012.