The Redondo Beach Fire Station 1 kitchen needs to be renovated -- badly. The counter is cracked, the cabinets shriek when they're opened and the drawers are just begging to land on a big toe.
"There are knives in there, so we have to worry about that," Fire Division Chief of Operations Steve Hyink said with a laugh. "This is a life-safety issue. We need to get a kitchen."
Hyink said they don't have the funds to renovate the 60-year-old kitchen with its 80s-era cabinets.
But just as hope was fading, the department came across a kitchen remodeling contest by Family Handyman magazine. The firehouse with the most votes wins a new Ikea kitchen.
They entered it and a few weeks later they received a phone call. They were told they were a top 5 finalist.
When the Redondo Beach firefighters found themselves thousands of votes behind in the contest, they knew they had to start a fire, and what better way than a fun video?
They unleashed onto YouTube the raw machismo of synchronized firehouse Hip-Hop. Some of the dance moves include the ever-popular "Sprinkler" and "The Robot."
In the video, the firefighters switched the lyrics in the hit "We Found Love" by Rihanna from "We found love in a hopeless place" to "We cook our food in a hopeless place."
The video, they say, has been effective.
"We're pulling in about a thousand votes a day now and hopefully we'll get more to hit that top spot," said firefighter Jeremy Sisante.
They don't have any hopes of their music going platinum, but they would sure like their kitchen to go stainless steel.
But they need more votes. Lots more.
Click here to vote for the Redondo Beach firefighters.
You can vote once per day until the contest ends on Feb. 28.
