Pittsburgh-area junior volunteer firefighter's department helps him with homecoming proposal

By: KDKA-TV's Meghan Schiller and Ashley Funyak

SHALER TOWNSHIP, Pa. (KDKA) -- For a teenager, asking a girl to a high school dance can be just as scary as fighting a fire. A local volunteer fire department stepped up to help get one of their own ready to go to his homecoming dance.

Fourteen-year-old Tyler Rankin is a junior volunteer firefighter with Bauerstown Volunteer Fire Department in Shaler Township. The VFD says Rankin is taking classes at the Allegheny County Fire Academy to join the Bauerstown Volunteer Fire Department when he turns 18.

Until then, Rankin is still a student at Shaler Area High School. The VFD says Rankin recently asked the department's members to help him ask Jordan Kelly to the homecoming dance on Sept. 21. The VFD says members cleared their schedules and cleaned the fire trucks, escorting Rankin to Kelly's house.

Upon seeing Rankin sitting in the front of the fire engine, the VFD says Kelly was nervous and surprised to find out that they were there to see her. With a sign that says "HoCo would be fire with you," Rankin asked Kelly to be his date. And she said yes.

The members from Buearstown VFD hope Rankin and Kelly have a wonderful safe night together at homecoming!