A 6-year-old in California who befriended a group of firefighters got a special ride to her final chemotherapy treatment earlier this month.

The Moraga-Orinda Fire District picked up Finley Brown, who was diagnosed with kidney cancer in June, and her family in a fire truck to drive them to Oakland's UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital on Dec. 21 -- a thrill of a lifetime for Finely and her little brother, Cooper, 4.

Finley met the firefighters this summer at a festival where the family lives in Moraga, just east of the Bay Area.

"We've always taught our kids that whenever they see a fireman or a police officer or a soldier, it's nice to approach them and thank them for keeping us safe," her mother A.J. Brown said.

So when Finley, who was with a babysitter and her little brother that day, saw a group of firefighters, she marched right up to them.

"Finley caught our eye initially because she didn't have any hair, and then because she started talking to us — this little girl had a ton of confidence," firefighter Lucas Lambert said. "She wasn't shy at all. She introduced both her little brother and babysitter to us and had no problems asking questions. And then she went on to tell us her story and started showing off her scars and telling us what she had been through in the past month or so."

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A two-story stone schoolhouse was built in 1910 at the intersection of Welsh and Church roads in Cumru Township.

The Cedar Top School became the Cedar Top Fire Station in 1957. Subsequent additions have left the station looking "like it's made of Legos," said Jeanne E. Johnston, township manager.

When Cedar Top, Gouglersville and Grill fire companies consolidated into the Cumru Fire Department in 2004, centrally located Cedar Top became the main station. In recent years the township has added more and more patches to the failing roof, which drains poorly and tends to leak into areas between old and less old parts of the station.

Moisture has caused garage doors to rust, creating safety hazards. Part of the foundation of the old schoolhouse has sunk, leaving a visible slant to the roof.

Fire Chief Scott R. Brady said the department needs a new fire station, with construction starting yesterday.

"Why continue to spend a whole lot of money on this building when its days are numbered?" he said.

Township commissioners agree Cedar Top is antiquated, but some are less certain than Brady about what the next step should be.

Last month they approved a line item in the 2016 tentative budget for about $100,000 in preliminary work for a new station, including environmental studies and civil engineering. But they haven't decided on a site for the proposed station.

The process of building a new station would take at least four years, township officials said, during which time more costly Band-Aids for Cedar Top will be required. 

Commissioners want to hear a presentation and learn more about the methodology before proceeding with environmental studies of a specific site next year. 

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The Claremore City Council last week approved a $500,000 loan through RCB Bank to purchase a new $479,725.25 fire engine. The new fire engine is scheduled to replace the current reserve fire engine.

"Our guys did a pretty good job picking out what is best for us. The purchase of a new truck was scheduled two or three years ago, but our shop keeps everything in good shape. This was the first year we were able to keep it budgeted. We did not want to have an engine fail before we could replace it," said Claremore Fire Chief Sean Douglas.

Currently, the Claremore Fire Department has three fire engines in regular use and one fire engine in reserve.

A typical fire engine will serve 15 years in regular use and five years in reserve use. The current reserve fire truck is over 20 years old.

When the new truck is assembled and delivered, it will replace the oldest fire engine in the fleet that is in regular use. The council will be asked to approve the reserve engine, which was bought in 1997, be moved to surplus. The oldest fire engine in the fleet, which was purchased in 2002, will then become the new reserve fire engine.

The new truck will continue a few extra safety features and more storage than previous fire engines. The extra storage will allow for more medical equipment, hoses and tools to be transported.

Douglas will work on making the purchase next week, and will be meeting with both the bank and vendor.

After the truck is purchased it will take about a year for it to be assembled. The Claremore Fire Department is anticipating the new truck will be operational at the end of 2016 or the beginning of 2017.

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