Shortly before 3:00 a.m. on Thursday, a mobile home in Vaughn caught fire; all of the human residents escaped without injury, but several pets were lost in the blaze. The trailer was deemed to be a total loss.

Some neighbors are upset with the department's response time, while fire officials counter that they did the best they could.

One resident, who asked not be identified, said, "The fire department is two blocks away right next to the post office, and it took them 23 minutes to get here, and they showed up with a truck that didn't work."

Vaughn fire chief Nate Curtis said, "We had mechanical problems with our first truck out of Vaughn, but our Sun Prairie truck was the second engine in, and we were able to get water on the fire quickly with that truck."

But it wasn't quick enough, according to neighbors.

"I know my house would have been lost and the comment was if it would have happened to any of these houses in this row, we would have lost all of them before we would have gotten someone here to help," said an area resident.

Curtis says even if crews would have gotten there sooner, the structure still would sustained extreme damage: "Trailer fires, you usually have seven minutes max from the time the fire starts to the time you get there to get it 100% out, and with volunteer companies, that's not possible."

Neighbors say they understand that volunteer's resources are limited, but that they are still helping finance it.

"I know that's a lot, but we do pay to the fire department in our taxes, it is a volunteer but we do pay for it," commented one person.

Curtis says the Vaughn, Sun River, Fort Shaw, and Gore Hill fire departments did a great job with the blaze, and adds that equipment issues are just bound to happen. He added, "Any departments that have fire trucks have mechanical problems, even paid city departments, so you face it and you go past it."

Friends of the family say they are doing well, and currently receiving assistance from the American Red Cross.