FAIRVIEW TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- Community members in Luzerne County are coming together to lend a hand to a volunteer fire company.
Years ago, a community member donated a property to the Mountain Top Hose Company. Another community member has now bought that property to help the fire company get new equipment.
Jim Foley just purchased the Mountain Top Hotel and the restaurant and bar inside of it – Cavanaugh's Grille.
"Couple of reasons," Foley said. "I've known Dave Hourigan and the fire company since I was born, pretty much, and the restaurant is named after my mom."
He purchased the building from the Mountain Top Hose Company Number 1. The company wanted to sell it so it could afford a new rescue truck.
"These vehicles cost so much money. It becomes unattainable for a lot of fire companies," said hose company president David Hourigan.
The Mountain Top Hotel was originally donated to the fire company by Foley's brother in 2008. The family is dedicated to preserving the building's history.
The fire company owned the building. The restaurant rented the space, and now, all of it is back in the Foley family.
"Mountain Top Hotel was built in the 1860s, I think. Actually, Teddy Roosevelt slept there more than one time when he used to come up through this part of the world," Hourigan said.
The fire company's new truck cost about $800,000. The sale of the hotel helped them pay for about 20 percent of it.
It makes the members so happy to see that a local family is willing to do so much to help them out.
"We've been pretty fortunate," Hourigan said. "We have an active group of people and we're able to sustain ourselves and respond to our calls and so we're fortunate because some fire companies really don't have enough personnel."
"The fire department was able to buy a new fire truck with the proceeds from the sale and it was great to help out the area," said Foley.
The new owner of the hotel plans to fix up the upper level of the property which is not in use. He hopes to turn it into apartments.