They say fight fire with fire. Massapequa’s Karl Thuge fought fire with firetrucks, selling them to virtually every fire department on Long Island in a career stretching back to the 1940s.

He devised lifesaving improvements to them, and pushed to transition the industry from gasoline to more powerful diesel engines. And he helped to break the color barrier in then-segregated communities by selling to minority-run fire departments.

As well, he served on those trucks, in a 79-year career as a volunteer firefighter who rose to become chief of department in Lynbrook and afterward serving in the Massapequa Fire Department, working rescue operations worthy of an adventure novel.

His perspective from both sides of the equipment equation led him to suggest practical enhancements.

“Things that

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