By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – Nearly every free second the Alabaster Fire Department’s C shift had while working in January and February was dedicated to crafting one of the newest additions to the city’s Fire Station No. 2.

After completing their daily tasks and training exercises, and in-between running emergency calls, the five-member C shift worked diligently collecting out-of-service fire hoses and crafting them into a symbol of pride and patriotism.

“Since we had the renovations done to Station 2, we didn’t have a lot of things hanging on the walls,” said C shift supervisor Lt. Cliff Dyson. “We wanted to do something to show our pride and dedication to what we do.”

After collecting the unused white fire hoses, the firefighters meticulously worked to measure out sections of the hoses before painting them red, white and blue.

Once the sections were laid out, the C shift members created a stamp to place 50 white stars on the blue section of their creation.

“We wanted it to be proportionately correct. It took us probably about five times longer than it should have because we did it after we took care of our daily duties and in-between running calls,” Dyson said, noting the shift got the idea from a firefighters’ trade magazine. “We did it all with paint, glue, fire hose, rulers and tape measures.”

The finished product was a perfectly laid-out American flag made entirely of fire hoses. A pair of metal joints in the red-and-white stripes serve as subtle trademarks of the firefighters’ work.

Since the Alabaster Fire Department posted a photo of the flag on Facebook on Feb. 24, the photo has been shared nearly 90 times and has reached more than 71,000 people, said Fire Chief Jim Golden.

“It’s something I’m very proud of,” Golden said. “They took it upon themselves to do this, and I think it’s another example of the pride and dedication our guys show every day.”

Dyson said he feels a sense of pride each time he looks at the work of art.

“This fire station is where we live part of the week,” Dyson said. “We are proud of what we do and where we work, and we wanted to do something that portrayed that.”