The Fire Station is one of the most exciting city sets of the history. It is a most in every town and in my opinion is perhaps even better than the newest 7208. The set, besides the building, has a huge fire truck with the finest ladder mechanism, an emergency rescue vehicle, four firemen, and lots and lots of tools and accessories.
Starting by the station, it integrates perfectly the two vehicle’s garages with a central headquarter with two floors. I specially enjoy the corner of the washing area. It is cozy and in case of need it is an extra parking place for others fire vehicles. Starting building it, you will notice that the complex is mounted in three steps: the two garages, separately, and the central building which ate attached through a couple of pins on both sides.
On the right side of the building there is the smaller garage. It is no big deal because there are no walls, juts some columns that will support the roof and the gate. The front ones have some indentations in order to the gate go up and down, which is a common mechanism to other city sets such as the 7642 garage, for instance. If the gate is up, other longer vehicles (than the emergency vehicle) can be easily parked, because there is room enough in front of the gate.
On the left side, there is the biggest garage for the ladder truck. The idea is the some, only bigger. There are no walls but this time the columns will have some extra features. On the edge there are two pins with an extra ladder and in the courtyard side there is a tap, a bucket and some brushes to wash the vehicles. Both roofs have some skylights to improve the playability. Next to this garage, there is also a small and simple bedroom for the firemen.
In the middle there are the headquarters and the control rooms. In the first floor there is the reception with a sliding door. Inside there is a desk with a computer and a register machine and of course the nice old cup of coffee. At a corner the users have also at their disposal a water machine. The second floor is a control room with two control panels and a nice rotating chair. Above them there is a tipper skylight to increase the playability. Looking to the inside carefully there is one thing missing that is indispensable in a fire station: a phone. I would not expect a PBX but at least a couple of phones could be present.
Now let’s have a closer look to the vehicles. The small emergency vehicle is cleverly different from everything. It uses a common chassis and the cab has the usual inside: a decent seat and a steering wheel. The front bumpers have an extra bar in case of tow’s needs. The different part is the rear trunk, because it has a big tipper door and amazingly lots of space for helmets, extinguishers and much more.
Finally the ladder truck and its amazing ladder. If you stretch it the most it measures almost fifty centimeters high which is spectacular. The chassis and the cab have the usual features of this truck and behind the bed is prepared to receive the ladder’s platform. Behind the cab there is a small usual compartment to store some tools and on the other side a big hose. Two side support arms will ensure that in case of emergency the truck will have the most possible stability. The ladder platform stretches through long technique pieces which fit inside some red ones with the same length. The final result is that the fireman can reach the highest buildings of the city surely.
Globally it is surely one of the most important sets in the city. The features are huge, the vehicles are simply the best and the tools and accessories are endless. Be careful only with one thing. If you try to move the building to other place, stay alert because the columns easily break and the structure falls immediately. If it is necessary, the instructions can be found right here: