NORWEGIAN
FIRE
DEPARTMENT
One dark
night
outside a
small town
in Minnesota
, a fire
started
inside the
local
chemical
plant and in
a blink of
an eye it
exploded
into massive
flames. The
alarm went
out to all
the fire
departments
for miles
around.
When the
volunteer
fire
fighters
appeared on
the scene,
the chemical
company
president
rushed to
the fire
chief and
said, "All
our secret
formulas are
in the vault
in the
center of
the plant.
They must be
saved. I
will give
$50,000 to
the fire
department
that brings
them out
intact."
But the
roaring
flames held
the
firefighters
off.
Soon more
fire
departments
had to be
called in as
the
situation
became
desperate.
As the
firemen
arrived, the
president
shouted out
that the
offer was
now $100,000
to the fire
department
who could
bring out
the
company's
secret
files.
From the
distance, a
lone siren
was heard as
another fire
truck came
into sight.
It was the
nearby
Norwegian
rural
township
volunteer
fire company
composed
mainly of
Norwegians
over the age
of 65. To
everyone's
amazement,
that little
run-down
fire engine
roared right
past all the
newer sleek
engines that
were parked
outside the
plant.
Without
even slowing
down it
drove
straight
into the
middle of
the inferno.
Outside, the
other
firemen
watched as
the
Norwegian
old timers
jumped off
right in the
middle of
the fire
fought it
back on all
sides. It
was a
performance
and effort
never seen
before.
Within a
short time,
the Norske
old timers
had
extinguished
the fire and
had saved
the secret
formulas.
The grateful
chemical
company
president
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
fire
fighters.
The local
TV news
reporter
rushed in to
capture the
event on
film, asking
their chief,
"What are
you going to
do with all
that money?"
"Vell,"
said Ole
Larsen, the
70-year-old
fire chief,
"Da first
thing ve
gonna do is
fix da
brakes on
dat focking
truck!"