One dark night outside a small town, a
fire started inside the
local
chemical plant, and before you could snap
your fingers it exploded
into
flames, and the alarm went out to the
volunteer fire departments
from
miles around.
when the volunteer firefighters appeared
on the scene, the chemical
company president rushed to the fire chief
and said, "All of our
secret formulas are in the vault in the
center of the plant. They
must be saved. I will give $50,000 to the
engine company that
brings them out intact."
The fire chief ordered his men to
strengthen their attack on the
blaze.
After two hours of fighting the fire
another fire department was
called in
and the president of the chemical company
offered $100,000 to the
firefighters who could bring out the
company's secret files.
From the distance, a long siren was heard
as another fire truck
came into
sight. It was the local volunteer fire
company composed entirely of
men
over the age of 65.
To everyone's
amazement, the little fire engine
raced
passed everyone and drove straight into
the middle of the inferno.
Outside the other firemen watched as the
old timers jumped off
their rig
and began to fight the fire with a
performance and effort never
seen before.
Within a short time, the old timers had
extinguished the fire and
saved
the secret formulas.
The grateful chemical company president
joyfully announced that for
such a
superhuman feat he was upping the reward
to $200,000, and walked
over
to personally thank each of the brave,
though elderly, fire
fighters.
The local TV news reporters rushed in
after capturing the event on
film
asking. "What are you going to do with all
that money?"
"Well," said the 70-year-old fire chief,
"the first thing we are
going
to do is fix the brakes on the truck.