One thing that hasn't changed is that a city needs firefighters, but what has changed is what the firefighters need.
"The stations are getting to be 80 years old and they were just built for a different kind of truck and a different kind of world," explained La Crosse Fire Chief Ken Gilliam.
Fire station one was built at a time when women weren't able to be firefighters. As the station progressed to include women on fire crews, the building did not. "Making sure we have men's and women's restrooms as silly as it is, you kind of take it for granted in other buildings," added Gilliam.
Without a place for both sexes to change, problems can arise quickly.
"A female needs to come into a shower and decontaminate after a fire and all the men have to be locked out of the locker rooms so she can have some privacy and take a shower, and vice versa."