Code 3 1:64 Luverne Pumper: 1999 Firehouse Expo/Baltimore Show

The dome covering on this model has been slightly pushed in hence reduced price

The model was a limited number of 2000 made for the Expo show which took place in Baltimore, Maryland July 22-25 1999

It's a desire that seems hard-wired into so many young brains: to be a firefighter, to have a life enlivened by danger, bravery and rescue.

Usually it dies out, but not always. Some go on to transform the fantasy into adult reality.  

About 12,000 paying visitors turned up at the expo show before it closed, mostly professional and volunteer firefighters, a small sample of the nation's force of 2 million. Most go to inspect, and maybe even buy, the new gear on display.

Expo is a three-day supermarket for the fire-conscious. All the tools to respond to disasters were there: hoses and shovels, crowbars and axes, escape ropes, oxygen tanks and helmets. There were confectionary items that celebrate the calling, photographs, beer mugs, fire bells and history books, brass items for firehouse swank, pins and belt buckles and toys and models, even fire-station birdhouses and stuffed Smokey Bear dolls.

And, of course, there are displays of new heavy equipment, demonstrations of safety procedures, and training routines.