Narvaez, who is originally from Nicaragua, came to the United States in 1981 and has served with the Princeton Police Department as a patrolman for 22 years. He joined the 108th Wing in October 1992 and in 1999, he transferred to Security Forces, where he serves on the Commander's Support Staff.

"I've always felt compelled to help, it fulfills me as a human being, trying to make a difference," Narvaez said.

In 2014, Narvaez travelled to Nicaragua. While he was there, he visited the headquarters of the Benemerito Cuerpo de Bomberos - a group of volunteer firefighters located in Managua, the capital of Nicaragua.

"I saw that they were in dire need of serviceable fire trucks and equipment," said Narvaez. "I offered to help and get them assistance in the United States. I explained to them that I couldn't make any promises, but that I would try to do my best."

Narvaez talked to Ray Wadsworth, the former Fire Chief of Mercer Engine No. 3 in Princeton, N.J., and was able to get some coats, boots and hoses that had been slated for replacement. Like their counterparts in Nicaragua, the Princeton firefighters are also volunteers.

The Nicaraguan firefighters were grateful for the donated gear, but their need for a new truck remained. In 2015, an opportunity presented itself.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration informed mercer Engine No. 3 that they would have to replace two of their fire trucks. One of them, a 1982 Mack 1250 GPM pumper truck, could no longer be used because the open cab was considered a safety hazard.

"Mr. Wadsworth felt that one of the trucks could be donated," Narvaez said. "We began to work together and doing all that was required to get the truck from the city."

To get the ball rolling, Narvaez sent a letter to Robert Gregory, Princeton's director of emergency services, explaining how the retired truck could be put to good use in Latin America. Princeton responded by putting the truck up for a symbolic auction.

"They sold it to me for a dollar," Wadsworth said.

In addition to the truck, 13 sets of boots, six jackets, and 1,200 feet of two and a half inch hose were included.

"The truck is fully equipped, all it needs is for the tank to be filled with water," Wadsworth said.

"I also took a video of the truck, how to start it up; giving directions on how to operate it," Narvaez said. Now you can't just donate a fire truck to another country, there's a process for it and it involves the Denton Program.

The Denton Program, which is jointly administered by the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Department of State and the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, allows U.S. citizens and organizations to use space available on military cargo aircraft to transport humanitarian goods to countries in need. U.S. Sen. Jeremiah Denton created the program as an amendment to the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. The amendment states "the Secretary of Defense may transport to any country, without charge, supplies which have been furnished by a non-governmental source and which are intended for humanitarian assistance. Such supplies may be transported only on a space available basis." Since 1998, more than 5.6 million pounds of humanitarian supplies have been sent to more than 50 countries.

The budget gets a final public hearing in August at the county Board of Supervisors, after which supervisors will vote on whether to approve it.

The budget proposes to hire six new entry-level firefighter positions at a cost of roughly $500,000 a year.

Those six additional firefighters would be enough to get two out of the four single-staffed stations up to two people on duty 24/7/365, according to Assistant Kings County fire Chief Rick Smith.

The four county stations that currently have one person on duty are Stratford, Island District, Hardwick and Burris Park.

Smith said officials are leaning toward adding staff to the Stratford and Hardwick stations first. He said those stations tend to experience higher call volumes.

County officials said the $500,000 cost will come out of a tax the county levies on hazardous waste revenue coming into the newly approved hazmat landfill at the Kettleman Hills facility operated by Chemical Waste Management.

The county receives 10 percent of what Chem Waste charges to store hazardous waste in the landfill, according to Rebecca Campbell, assistant county administrative officer.

The ladder stretches 80 feet, allowing crews to put out fires from above. “There’s buildings built now within the county that we can’t reach with ground ladders, reach the roof of them,” Turner said.

Turner said it also allows firefighters to rescue people in hard-to-reach places quicker and safer.

The fire chief said a new ladder truck typically costs about $1 million. Turner said they purchased the ladder truck for about $30,000. “Last year, we were fortunate enough to get a few new trucks, and that allowed us to get rid of some older trucks and we took that money and kind of pulled it together to be able to purchase this truck,” he said.

Turner said they were able to purchase the truck from the Covington Fire Department at a discounted price because that department got grant money for a new truck.