Volunteers from Pine Grove Area Community Ambulance were transporting a woman, who was in stable condition, to Hershey Medical Center when suddenly, there was smoke in the ambulance.

"Never in all my career did I ever envision something like this happening and that's been 32 years with the volunteer. Never," said David Lukasewicz, president of the ambulance company, who was driving the ambulance at the time.

A house on White Heron Place in the Aloma Woods neighborhood was reconstructed after a lightning strike in 2014 gutted it.

The family was OK, but their pets died in the fire.

The firefighters didn't get there in time.

"I kept wondering, 'Where are the sirens?' It was scary," said Corinna Brown.

She then started a petition asking Seminole County to get Fire Station 29 up and running, but two years later, it's nowhere close to construction.

The fire station has been on the books for about a decade.

Several studies show that the response times in the area are nine to 10 minutes and the national average is four minutes.

The most recent study showed that there are about 3,400 calls for service in the area.

The fire department has the money to build the station, but the Seminole County Commission hasn't approved it, because there isn't money in the budget for staffing or equipment.

The fire department said the station is in the budget for the 2016-2017 year. But even if it's approved, it still will be a long time before it's built.

"The firefighter failed those tests and was then placed under arrest for operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated," Clarke said.

Gestner is a paid volunteer for the Sussex Fire Department who, the chief said, doesn't typically drive the fire truck. Damage to the truck is visible but minor, adding up to a couple of dents on the side.

State patrol officials believe he was still drunk following a holiday celebration the night before.

"He had been drinking the night prior, evidently quite heavy, and that alcohol hadn't gone through his system when he reported for duty that morning," Clarke said.

The Sussex fire chief said in a statement that he immediately placed Gerstner on administrative leave and called him a dedicated 19-year member of the department.