The firefighters who work at the station partnered with the architect to design the facility to meet their specific needs and desires, a first in Carmel. The architect used a handwritten sketch from the firefighters when designing the exterior and referenced mock floor plans they created.

Among the firefighters’ requests was a fire pole, upstairs living areas, a large workout area and arched bay doors.

"Our firefighters' safety is paramount. They have to feel safe in the equipment that we provide for them to utilize here to rescue victims, to extinguish fires, to provide a safer community for the city of Alton," said Sebold.

The air packs protect firefighters' respiratory tract by supplying clean air to their lungs so they can enter a smoke-filled building to extinguish a fire, or even stop a chemical leak.

Sebold said the new packs will give firefighters advanced notice of when they're going to be running out of air, helping them escape from a burning building faster.

"Obviously we want our firefighters to have the most up-to-date equipment to provide for their safety and the safety of people we are going in to rescue," said Sebold. "So one of the technological advances are that the alarm on the SCBA alarms at 33% of the air supply that's left as opposed to 25 percent that's left."

Fire Chief Chuck Lauss said this new logo is an opportunity to tie the neighborhood to the firefighters and the firefighters to the neighborhood.

"This is another chance to have a bit more pride in the area. Not that they don't already but this is that little extra," the chief said.

Rick Waldron, the head of the Local 50, the union that represents the firefighters, echoed that sentiment.

"We embraced this idea with our administration for the pure sake that your fire house is part of your neighborhood. We want to be as close to our neighbors as possible," he said.

One of those neighbors was Charlie Johnson, of CJ Signs, 4024 SW Adams St. His company made the decals and says he "grew up" in South Peoria as his father owned a business there. It's a way to giving back, he said.

The idea is two years in the making, Lauss said. The department set up an art committee and firefighter Dan Thornton came up with the design. So why The Fighting 4s?

"We are the busiest machines in the city," he said.

"As a small fire company, we have a small budget with limited resources. Without this state funding, we would have been unable to cover the total cost of a new fire truck. We are so grateful that Senator Ranzenhofer is helping us to reach our goal," said South Byron Volunteer Fire Company President Dean L. Bates.