Soon more fire departments had to be called in as the situation became desperate.
As the firemen arrived, the president shouted out that the offer was now $100,000 to the fire department who could save the company’s secret files.
From the distance, a lone siren was heard as another fire truck came into sight.
It was the nearby Chasidic Jewish rural township volunteer fire company composed mainly of Jewish, ultra-orthodox men over the age of 65.
To everyone’s amazement, that little broken-down fire engine roared right past all the sleek newer engines that were parked outside the plant.
Without even slowing down, it drove straight into the middle of the inferno.
Outside, the other firemen watched as the Chasidic old timers jumped off right in the middle of the fire and fought it back on all sides
It was a performance and effort never seen before.
Within a short time, the Chasidic old timers had extinguished the fire and saved the secret formulas.
The grateful chemical company president announced that for such a superhuman feat he was upping the reward to $200,000, and walked over to thank each of the brave fire fighters personally.
The local TV news reporter rushed in to capture the event on film, asking their chief, “What are you going to do with all that money?”
“Well,” said Moishe Goldberg, the 70-year-old Fire Chief, “Da first thing ve gonna do is fix da brakes on dat focking truck!”