Juvenile offenders shine the trucks, spiff up the hall, assist at bingo fundraisers and even help roll up the hoses sometimes when trucks pull back into one of Latrobe's five fire stations after a call.
A juvenile probation program that gives teens community service work at the stations has benefited the youths and the all-volunteer fire company over the past five years, said city fire Chief John Brasile.
“It's worked out well for us, and it gives the kids a sense of volunteerism,” he said.
The fire company has had 20 to 30 teens do community service work at its stations, an experience so positive for two juveniles that they are now junior firefighters, Brasile said.