Factgirl's fact of the day:
Firefighters are more likely to injure themselves sliding down the firehouse
pole than fighting a fire. The city of Chicago (where the slidey-pole
was originated in the 1870s) is replacing all of it's two-story firehouses with
single floor buildings.
Bonus fact: At a firehouse in Livermore, CA, there is a
lightbulb that has been working since 1901. If a clumsy firefighter
should happen to break it, he or she would be fired on the spot.
-it's a fact
sources: Reuters & Guinness Book of World Records Millenium
Edition