To the giddy delight of every passing kid in Old Town (and a few grown adults, including this writer and a pair of excited female whistlers) Humboldt Bay Fire flexed a little muscle this morning.

Pulling up in their dazzling ladder tiller truck, the boys suited up for some rooftop training. The star: The 100-foot ladder they extended to the rooftops over Third Street.

After giving a close-up demonstration to one toddling onlooker, they packed up and were gone — just as the TV news crew arrived.

This video is a rare example of when watching someone descend a ladder is exciting.