Building

Due to some coincidence, I received the American version instead of the European version. But I live in Europe. Otherwise, the same European version (374) as this one is just a yellow building with the lego logo on the flag.

The building is special to me. There are things in it that later city fire stations don't have. For example, a clock tower, an outdoor bench and a seating area, a fruit tree and a spare ladder. I really like that it's reminiscent of 1930s buildings. Only this and the 2 creator sets are like these, (10197 Fire Brigade, 10263 Winter Village Fire Station) the rest are all modern fire stations.

It is interesting to see that the office wall is closed at the back but can be opened. I only saw this at this fire station. The successor fire station sets are held together by only a few columns, doors and windows. And they opened completely at the back.

It was still built of many regular bricks. There are plenty of options for rebuilding.

There is a little "Back to the future" movie reference in it: he hands of the clock stand just like in the movie. But this set was released 7 years earlier than the movie! What a coincidence!

Minifigures

4 minifigures are added to the set. The torso was not painted yet, but a sticker was used instead. All 4 minifig are the same. At least 1 of the 4 minifigs could have been civilian to save the crew. Or he/she could work in the office as a dispatcher.

Unfortunately, only one air/oxygen tank was added to the set, and they didn't even have a fire extinguisher for the poor firefighters.

Vehicles

Only 2 vehicles were added to the set. The fire-fighting helicopter was part of the fire station sets only from the 1990s. We have a ladder truck and a jeep. I think the jeep would be the fire chief's car.

Unfortunately, none can extinguish the fire because there is no hose or generator. So the gaming experience is limited to saving the ladder.

Vehicle headlights and grilles are still printed, as is the case with today's junior sets. Chrome color for headlight painting. There is an old fire sticker on the side of the vehicles.

The ladder truck is very nice, the open cabin reminds me of the old "LaFrance" type fire trucks. None of the vehicles have a steering wheel. The steering wheel already existed in the 640-2 Fire Truck and Trailer set, which was also released in 1978. Therefore, I do not understand why it is not included in this set. Unfortunately, the ladder was not designed for minifigures, so it is very difficult to hook the minifig’s leg. The ladder dates back to the mini-wheels era.

What is missing is that no pumper truck has been added. Or at least one pump or generator.

Overall opinion

I think it's a good and cute set. Simple and fun. Unfortunately, there is no suitable vehicle for extinguishing the fire, but it is made for children, use our imagination. I don't agree with the name of the set, it would have been better if it was Ladder 09, as it only has a ladder truck.

My rebuild

2 things frustrated me about the fire truck, one is that there is no hose. The second is that there is no steering wheel. These can be easily repaired with contemporary available parts. I used 2 gray technik pins for the hose, which comes with the set anyway. The hose is a black rubber tube that was added to the 373 Oil Rig set, but was later used for the 920 Rocket Launch Pad set. The steering wheel comes from a 640-2 Fire Truck and Trailer set. Since the steering wheel needed space, the printed headlights had to go. The 1x1 transparent plate already existed in the 60s. I think it’s more like a 1970s fire truck that way.

It's not my first Lego set, nor my favorite. But this Lego set is the all time memorable one for me as I received it during Christmas one year when I was 3. But the special thing was that my mom tried to build it. She got so frustrated she tore up the instructions!

No, it never was a really complicated set by far (for that's the Star Destroyer). But for most of my life until the internet started to take off, I never was able to re-build this set in the same manner and that had haunted me until this day.

Okay, silly story aside, it's definitely a classic set. I like this one better than the original fire station that proceeded it (this was the figureless one). This set can still be integrated (if not looking antiquated) into any town system and probably can be re-built even now with a few generic sets. But one thing that this fire station had going for it that most of the current stations don't is being completely enclosed. It's the only fire station that has a hinge piece, allowing you to opening up a side of the building.

There's not much detail to this set. A little bed inside, a US flag, round tree and two fire trucks. But it is what it is and really is a nice collectors item to have.