It's touted as the largest all-volunteer fire department in the country and, perhaps, the world; and its membership is very proud of that fact.

The Middletown Township Fire Department is comprised of 11 separate fire companies, covering each hamlet in the 42-square-mile, 67,000-populated township, which is the largest in Monmouth County.

In a suburb Middletown's size, fires are fought frequently by the some 400 active members of the department. Some are minor and injury is escaped and others are major and fatal.

Over the weekend, a small basement fire in the Navesink section of the township was quickly extinguished. The home's inhabitants all escaped injury. In 20 minutes worth of firefighting in the early morning fire on Sunday, however, a lot happened.

Middletown Township Fire Department Photographer Laurie Kegley was on the scene. She shared her unique view of fighting that fire with us. Take a look at the glimpse into fighting a fire in Middletown in the above slideshow.