You can kiss the notion of having a dalmatian at the fire station goodbye when heading out to Fayetteville. Because around the Indian Creek fire barn, it's Ebbie who rules the roost. Ebbie (short for Ebony) is a small, more silver than black, poodle who can't leave her owner, Standley Wright, for very long. That's why you'll see Ebbie at the fire barn in Fayetteville any time Standley's working at his duties as fire chief. Perched outside, she yips at passersby but she stays put at her post.

"She's a dandy; she's a rotten dog that's for sure," Standley said. "If I'm at the fire barn, that's where she wants to be. I have a golf cart I ride up there, and she loves taking trips on that." Standley and his family are animal lovers, who are always up for a canine roommate.

"It's kinda comical - it really is," said L.D. Martin, the department's safety officer. "The dog goes everywhere he goes." So instead of the standard-issue dalmatian, the Indian Creek volunteers are opting for a small, curly-haired poodle, who loves her owner as much as he loves her.