DeKALB – Sue Breese remembers sliding down the fire pole as a second-grader during a field trip to the old DeKalb Fire Station on North Fourth Street near the corner of Lincoln Highway.

It’s that type of memory DeKalb firefighters know residents associate with the department, and it’s the goal of the department’s newly created DeKalb Firefighters Historical Foundation to preserve those memories and the department’s history.

That old fire pole now has its own space at Station 1, at Seventh and Pine streets. But those involved with the foundation hope to find a more permanent home for it in a museum space some day.