If you've been to the town of Lyons, you can't help but notice the Rosenbauer Fire Apparatus buildings. The company's site is arguably the most recognizable feature of the city. But it wasn't always that way. In fact, it began to come together more than thirty years ago, when a few members of the community decided to start a fire department. 

Harold Boer recalls, “Since I had the welding shop, I built our fist little fire truck" 

Harold Boer, became the town's first fire chief in 1978, and soon had more work in his welding shop. 

"Brought some truck in for service,” says Boer about an acquaintance who helped get the fire department off the ground. “I did some service work on trucks. A little bit larger service projects. Did some painting on other fire trucks he would bring in for me to work on and things like that." 

A lot has changed in the thirty years since then. Boer has watched his welding shop transform into one of the world's leading manufacturers of fire trucks. 

Boer admits, "We had no idea what the market was. Back then, we were just trying to stay busy, keep the shop busy and accommodate fire department needs. Never ever give it a thought." 

The company now employees 270 people, almost four times the population of Lyons. 

The company is even expanding at its Lyons location. They're just finishing work on a big new building, which they hope will give them the space to produce 700 trucks each year. 

“We're on track right now for 600 plus, as we currently are. With that new building, we think we can get there,” says Boer. 

Many of the trucks are still sold locally, but 20 percent go overseas. 

Boer says, "The mideast is a very good market for us. South America is a good market for us. A little bit in South Africa. Just started a new dealer in Mexico and starting to expand down there, and the Canadian market's also very well." 

But even with so much success in a global market, Boer says it's difficult to think of one accomplishment that stands out, except the jobs he's been able to provide. 

“We've had several people work here twenty, twenty plus years and retire. That's a good feeling to see people who started with you and grew along with you and were able to work for that many years with nice benefits and things. That makes you feel good,” says Boer. 

And for Boer, the more things change, the more they stay the same. “Actually where we're sitting here is part of the original building. It's still here. Where we're sitting is where we used to do all that fabrication and stuff." 

And after three decades, he's still the town's fire chief. 

The company built its first complete fire truck in 1983 and sold it to the Tea Volunteer Fire Department, they still use the truck today.