BERNARDS -- It was a firefighters' nightmare -- watching a firehouse burn down while all of the equipment to put out the blaze was incinerated inside the building.
That's what happened Jan. 5 in New Galilee, Pa., and what inspired Liberty Corner firefighters to donate their used fire engine Sunday to the western Pennsylvania firefighters who lost all of their equipment in the blaze.
"I can't even imagine what it must have been like -- going to your firehouse and watching it burn," Liberty Corner 2nd Asst. Chief Pete Aprahamian said Sunday.
Liberty Corner members invited the New Galilee firefighters to the firehouse on Church Street to have breakfast and get the truck.
Liberty Corner Fire Company members had been looking to get rid of their 1983 Pierce truck since the township bought the department a new $455,000 Seagrave pumper several months ago, Liberty Corner Chief Marc Friedman said. The department decided to donate it since there wasn't much of a market for used trucks.
After Hurricane Katrina, the firefighters decided to give the used truck to a Gulf Coast community but couldn't make a connection with anyone willing to take it.
Then, last week, Friedman learned about the New Galilee firehouse blaze. He contacted New Galilee Chief Jim Mitchell, who accepted Liberty Corner's offer.
"When you sit down after watching everything burn up, it's good to know that people are helping us," Mitchell said Sunday. He said he's had offers of equipment from fire departments in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and West Virginia. But without a building, the New Galilee department has no place to put donated equipment.
Mitchell said his 25-member fire company decided to take Liberty Corner's truck because it was the nicest one offered to them, and it will fit in a temporary garage. He expects that it will take a year for the fire company to collect insurance, construct a new building and replace equipment, including a tanker truck, which is essential since most of New Galilee is without fire hydrants.
Six New Galilee firefighters left at 9 p.m. Saturday from the burned-out building, which is about 40 miles northwest of Pittsburgh. They drove through a night of high winds and icy roads to arrive at the Liberty Corner firehouse at 7 a.m.
The firefighters talked over a pancake, egg and sausage breakfast. The Pennsylvania firefighters shared photos of their firehouse fire -- an arson inferno that caused $1.2 million in damage.
Investigators believe someone started the blaze Jan. 6 to cover up a firehouse burglary. There also was a theft at gunpoint in October at the firehouse.
After breakfast, dozens of Liberty Corner firefighters loaded New Galilee's smaller pickup truck with equipment, including a dozen pair of rubber boots and air tanks.
"Firefighters are like a big family -- locally and nationwide," Aprahamian said. "We all watch out for each other."
Copyright 2006 Courier News. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.
