We often need their help. Now they want ours.
The firefighters at Fire Station 1 in Redondo Beach have entered a nationwide contest to win a new kitchen.
The Rescue Remodel contest pits firehouses from around the country against each other, and the station with the most votes will receive a kitchen renovation valued at $25,000. The contest is sponsored by Ikea, the Swedish home furnishing giant, and The Family Handyman, a home improvement magazine.
Votes can be cast by visiting rescueremodel.com and be made until Feb. 28. There are five firehouses competing and by Tuesday afternoon the Redondo Beach station was in third place with 20,310 votes. Palos Fire Protection District Station #1 in Palos Park, Illinois ,was in the lead with more than 53,800 votes.
But support for the Redondo Beach station has been building thanks, in part, to social media. Links to a video the firefighters put together - a rendition of Rihanna's "We Found Love" called "We cook our food in a hopeless place" - have been posted on Facebook and Twitter.
In a letter posted on the Rescue Remodel website, Steve Hyink, Fire Division Chief of Operations, said the kitchen was there when he was assigned to the station 28 years ago. It has survived leaky roofs and floods. Each time firefighters save up enough money for a remodel, something more important needs to be fixed, or more life-saving equipment needs to be bought. Redondo Beach Fire Station Number 1 was built in the early 1950s and designed to last 40 years, Hyink wrote.
"We don't like to ask for help, but it would really be appreciated if we could just get some cabinets and a new counter," Hyink added.
The
Redondo Beach Fire Department has three stations, including the
harbor patrol facility in King Harbor.
