Some light bulbs promise to burn for several years, but there's a bulb at an Oklahoma fire station that's been going strong for nearly 80 years.
Even when the town is quiet, every firefighter knows there is equipment to check and maintain.
"Air pressure looks good. Never know when that nice little buzzer is going to go off," fire chief Steve Slayton said.
Slayton checks hoses, tanks, boots and helmets, just as generations of fire chiefs have before him.
"I started here in 1985 as a volunteer. I became full time in 1987," he said.
Old pictures tell the story of Fire Station No. 1. Horses pulled the pumpers 100 years ago. Then came the first engines, always newer and with better equipment.
The fire chiefs have changed through the years, but somewhere along the climb toward present day, something special took shape in the shadows of the upstairs dormitory.
Back in 1927 someone installed a light bulb. At the time it wasn't a big deal, but as the years passed and the light stayed on a sense of illuminated pride took shape.
"It's definitely grandfathered in. The only way to turn it off is to unscrew it and I wouldn't touch it for nothing," Slayton said.
Its location has moved a few times. Firefighters who've had to sleep near it once painted it black so they could get some rest.
"Now we have a cover we keep on it," Slayton said.
For years, the old light has occupied a corner. It isn't wired to a light switch, and the only time the bulb goes dark is when the power goes out.
"The one unique thing about it is that the filament is really large. You're not going to buy one of those nowadays," Slayton said.
People ask about the old light at firefighter meetings and conventions. The guys here have it set up to last. It's illuminating its own long history and a future yet unknown.
"I figure it'll go forever as long as there's electricity to run it," Slayton said.
A storm knocked out power for a week in the downtown area of Mangum back in 1994, but the old light bulb came back on when the power was restored.
Another light bulb closer to home has been burning for almost 100 years. An electric light bulb lit backstage at the palace theater back in 1908 is still burning at the stockyards museum in Fort Worth.
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