There seems to be some confusion concerning the proposed expansion of the Hicksville Fire Department's Station 2. The letters from the mothers of volunteer firemen are very touching and I do realize what they sacrifice, but that's not the issue here. The real issue is saving my house.

I was born and raised in Hicksville. I feel very fortunate that my wife and I were able to purchase a home here near our relatives and many friends. We have great respect for the volunteers who serve our community and so the idea of living right across the street from a firehouse never concerned us.

But now, 20 years later, the fire department has expressed an interest in buying this beautiful home that we have invested so much in and I am gravely concerned. Why? Because although we have no intention of ever selling it, the fire department can legally take it from us by exercising their right of eminent domain. A fire department employee has told us this more than once; the board of fire commissioners denies that they will exercise this right but they refuse to put it in writing.

We, too, have sons, three of them, plus a daughter, who live at home and attend school. Our children are very upset at the thought of having to leave their home, change schools and being unable to visit their grandmothers, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends on a daily basis. We ask the families of firefighters to consider how they might feel if they were in our situation. Will the volunteers be here to box up the trophies, dolls, guitars, posters, books and bicycles and will they look these children in the eye as they walk away from the place that holds most of their childhood memories?

We're not arguing that volunteers deserve a nice place to do their work. But do you want your son the firefighter, your brother the firefighter, your husband the firefighter to have this at such an extraordinary expense to others? We are not nameless or faceless. We are real people with real lives. Some of us have been here in our homes before some of the volunteers were born. Imagine that.

It is important for everyone to know that this proposed expansion is not for new equipment to keep the neighborhood safe, but rather to have a bigger recreation/meeting room and weight room to boost the morale of volunteers. It is about wants not needs. Yes, I think people who put their lives on the line are deserving of amenities that will increase enrollment and morale. What the Hicksville Fire Department wants can be built in another, more suitable location, one, in particular, that is just blocks away from Station 2.

No one in Hicksville should ever have to live with the threat of losing their home. I deserve to keep my house. That's the real issue. My whole world is in that house. What would you do if you were me?

Gary Tietjen