Pittsburgh Fire Department Local 2721 has been the center of town activity since it was built in 1905 hosting such events as Sundae Socials, spaghetti dinners, wedding receptions, graduation parties, flea markets, boy scout bake sales, wakes and school tours. But, due to poor planning and over expenditures, the City of Pittsburgh has to tighten its financial belt and close several of the fire stations in its smaller boroughs. Despite the fact that closure of the Southside Fire Department would make the nearest fire station nearly an hour away, it is still slated for closure.

As Chief Rupkie struggles over how to make the latest budget work, big help arrives in a small package: the Junior Firefighters. By opening up a Junior Firefighter’s Academy the department would receive a grant that would just cover their expenses for the summer and bide them some time to come up with a permanent solution to their money woes.

David Hinkman is the first to arrive when the Academy opens it doors. David is a tenth grader with Yale on the brain. He hopes to graduate from the Junior Academy both with another addition for his college application as well as a picture for it: Him standing stoically outside a decimated building holding a rescued child in his arms as her mother looks on adoringly.

Danny Madigan has no interest in college and has never heard of some school that “sounds like somethin’ you do at your little sister.” Danny wants to be a firefighter, just like his pop was, and his pop before him. But, when it comes to having fun, Danny leaves that to the other kids. He avoids water fights when they wash the truck, tussling with the dog in the park and especially their silly conversations when they eat. Danny doesn’t have time to be a kid, he’s way too busy pretending he’s a man.

Tina Marie doesn’t mean to volunteer, at least not how she does, being tied up in a sack, gagged and pushed out of a car. Her four brothers, tired of hearing her yap about how she was going to be the first female firefighter in the Southside Local decided to help her get there a little sooner and a little quieter. She’s happy to be here though, and to prove that she’s just as tough as any boy, which she does when the boys assign her the task of cooking dinner the first week. After a short brawl with David, who insists the closest a girl should get to a fire is the one she creates in the kitchen, Tina gets truck washing duty instead.

Jack Morrow, unlike the rest, has no interest in washing dishes, trucks, or dogs. He is only there to fulfill his community service. “It was either this or pickin' garbage up off the side of the road. And that job was taken.” Jack’s reason for having to “serve time” changes every day, ranging from burglary to murder, depending on what old gangster movie he watched the night before. With his mother working full time and going to school, Jake has an awful lot of time on his hands, but only one TV station, the classic movie one, to waste it on. And as it turns out, Jack’s infamous “crime” is nothing more than an act of kindness poorly executed.

And then there’s Mickey. Nobody knows Mickey’s last name, where he lives or even why he’s there. He just showed up one day and washed the truck, not helped washed the truck, but washed the truck, by himself in fifteen minutes flat, including the tires. The kid doesn’t say much, but he sure works hard.

But just as this motley crew begins to learn to work together as a team, Local 2721 loses its funding to a more important fire station, the one in the Mayor’s township. Despite energetic fundraising efforts, both the firehouse and the Junior Academy are forced to close their doors.

When a three alarm destroys Bob’s Pizza Palace and begins to quickly spread throughout the city block, endangering the local animal shelter, the Junior firefighters must decide whether they’re ready to answer the call of duty. They can either wait for the Mayor’s fire department to arrive, hopefully before there’s nothing more than briquettes to put out, or they can don their firefighting gear and earn their Junior badges, by saving the shelter and the neighborhood before it’s too late. With the clock ticking, and the fire spreading each second, this rag tag group of kids doesn’t have long to decide whether they can prove that good things do come in small packages.