"It's possible they were taking refuge from the weather," agency spokesman Bob Lemons said. "It's a very active station. That's why they were quite surprised to find hitchhikers."

The crew put one of the baby raccoons in nearby bushes, the mama raccoon climbed down from the truck and went to it, and firefighters brought the second baby to the ground to reunite the furry family, Lemons said.

“I would feel my heart jump out of my chest," Deputy Fire Chief Joe Murray said as he explained the feeling of waking up in the middle of the night to an alarm, alerting firefighters of a fire.

“Just imagine someone startles you when you're in a dead sleep and you wake up and sometimes you get a little disoriented,” he explained.

Firefighters in Beloit no longer have that sudden jolt. Instead it's a gradual increase.

"Basically it’s the difference of gently waking someone or gently even getting them moving the apparatus during the daytime as to basically scaring them nearly to death," Dr. Jay MacNeal, MercyRockford EMS Medical Director, said.

The change comes after an alarming study by Mercyhealth doctors Jay MacNeal and Chris Wistrom. They found with the old blaring tones firefighters heart rates skyrocketed to the 150's and 160's. With the gradual increase heart rates dropped an average of 30 percent.

The driver, Francis J. Crook, 67, of Almond, apparently accelerated too quickly, causing the vehicle to sideswipe the house and plunge into the creek, witnesses said.

Nancy Griffin was on the porch waiting for the ambulance to take her brother for medical treatment in Hornell. She said the driver “must have gassed it. I just heard it when he hit the side of the building . . . BOOM!”

“It just sounded like a million windows breaking,” neighbor Doris Rose said.

Crook was taken to St. James Mercy Hospital in Hornell for treatment. His condition has not been released. The man waiting for the medical transport was later taken by another ambulance.

Firefighters spent nearly three hours assisting the crew of a wrecker removing the ambulance from the ankle-deep water. Steep, rocky creek banks foiled attempts to pull the ambulance out from the direction it entered the creek.

The new pumper will replace a 30-plus year old truck. The new truck has a larger 4,000 gallon capacity and importantly can pump water itself. Having that capacity alone could save the department three or four firefighters, especially on weekdays when it is more difficult to get enough volunteers to respond, Denko said. It carries 1,000 feet of hose on board.

“Now every apparatus we have has a pump and is capable of flowing water,” Denko said. “It gives us a lot of versatility.”

Gunderson pointed to safety, needs for upgrades, document information preservation concerns and recruitment as other reasons the public should approve an advisory referendum on Nov. 8.

The department serves the city of Osseo and towns of Sumner, Garfield and Otter Creek, and contracts with the town of Clear Creek.

The referendum calls for construction of a nearly 16,000-square foot facility for about $2.5 million. The city has approved the sale of about 4 acres of property, for about $50,000, in the industrial park on the city's northeast side for the station, which would have about 11,000 square feet for equipment and another 4,000 square feet of meeting space.

“We're not looking to overdo this, but it should provide enough space for 60 or so years,” Gunderson said.

The referendum is designed to let members of the fire district's board and those municipalities it serves “know how the public feels about having a new fire station,” Gunderson said.