BATH, N.Y. -- The new Bath Fire Department replaces a 27-year-old building. It also replaces some old headaches, like having trucks that were bumper to bumper, and having to get those trucks out of a blind alley onto a main street.

"Our biggest trucks were so long we couldn't drive down the alley, we had to stop, cut off traffic, and then back the entire length of the alley to get them back in,” said Mark Conrad, Bath Volunteer Firefighter.

Along with more garage space, other improvements include a washing machine that can clean up to five sets of gear at once, and an exhaust system to keep the air cleaner. A lot of the equipment was moved over from the old station, or was given through donations.

"Really it was a community that kind of all gave everything. People gave money, people gave time, we had people help us cut trees down to get the houses out of the way to build the station," said Conrad.

With all the new technology here you wouldn't expect to find a typewriter. But one arson background check form for firefighters still needs to be fed through it because it hasn't been formatted for a computer. Aside from that, the station has a lot of the latest and greatest equipment.

"The stuff we can do in this building is not even a comparison. We can have multiple committee meetings at the same time, utilize the EOC, we have wireless networking in the building," said Conrad.

The building is also handicapped accessible and has a room to hold banquets.

The department hopes to use its new banquet space for station fundraisers. That money will help pay off the $2.5 million loan it acquired from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to build the new facility.