The pumper was retired in 1979. It took Emling several years to track it down. Harvey Hartman bought the old pumper for $800. He stored it in a garage and drove it in parades for a while. Then it fell into disrepair. When a tree fell on the truck, he sold it. The new owner left it outside and the truck continued to deteriorate. It was due to be sold as scrap when Emling rescued it. The pumper is now stored in a large garage in Penfield. "The engine is good shape," Emling said. Other parts not so much. So far, he has installed a new ignition, rebuilt the starter, put in a water pump, installed new brakes and batteries plus tires and mufflers. It needs all new electricals and a paint job, too. Emling wants to use commercial grade paint at $500 a gallon to restore the original color - sort of a reddish maroon, he said.

Both options would involve repairing the station's roof. The $161,000 plan, Option 1, would also involve expanding the existing truck bay that houses fire engines. Mitchell reported that currently there is only six inches of extra space available -- four at the front and two at the rear of the bay -- in which to park one of the town's fire trucks.

Option 1 was originally estimated to cost approximately $85,000, but this figure was increased to $161,000 following the purchase of a small parcel of land on an adjacent property to provide room for the bay expansion, as well as the estimate for roof work. The roof replacement plan was approved during a capital improvement process last year. At that time, funds were set aside to cover approximately $120,000 of the work.

The second option proposed would involve removing the existing fire engine bay, along with the center segment of the fire station, which comprises an office, bathroom and kitchenette that currently has a basement under it. In its place would be built two truck bays of adequate size for two of the town's engines.

Limmer was stunned a Forest Township firetruck arrived at his neighbor's burning home off of Dodge Road, spewing water into the street.

"It looked like a wave coming out of the firetruck from the top of the hill all the way down. If it wasn't tragic, it would've been comedic," Limmer said. "I'm more terrified than I am mad. We gotta fix this so it doesn't cost somebody their life."  

Forest Township Fire Chief David Lutze said the truck is 15 years old and the department has never had a problem before.

The department teaches the students about fire safety during Fire Prevention Week, which was Oct. 8-14, but the department wants the messages to stick with the students, said Quentin Buffington, firefighter/fire prevention officer/public information officer. Buffington drove the fire truck Monday with Dan Zilm, assistant fire chief.  

The department then introduced an optional project to the students.

To be eligible to win the ride, the students had to complete and return a drawing of their home that included two ways of exit from each room and indicate the location of smoke alarms. The students also had to write down an emergency phone number and a meeting place outside the home in case of an emergency. After seeing all those pieces of information, the firefighters narrowed the completed entries down to the best plans.