By Lindsay Tice,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – Justin LaChance worked hard to finish the life-sized wooden firetruck in time for the Make-A-Wish fund-raiser.

For three months he pushed himself. Every time he looked at the playhouse, he thought of his 5-year-old cousin.

She has leukemia.

“It was worth the work just knowing it’s going to help make some kid happy, let them go someplace and forget about their illness for a while,” LaChance said.

The firetruck will be sold with baby grand pianos and luxury vacations at the foundation’s July 15 auction.

LaChance, 16, hopes the 8-foot truck, with its bucket seats, removable wooden ladders and real – though empty – fire extinguisher, will net $5,000. That’s the cost of the average wish.

His teachers think it could go for as much as $12,000.

Foundation officials wouldn’t even guess how much it might earn. In five auctions, they’ve never had such a realistic playhouse.

“People ask where the keys are,” said Dan O’Neill, the teaching assistant who helped lead the project.

This is the eighth year Lewiston Regional Technical Center students have built a playhouse for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The other projects, which resembled spaceships, lighthouses and a variety of vehicles, were raffled off at the Auburn Mall. Those raffles ended two years ago.

When teacher Mario Pascarelli learned that Make-A-Wish would offer a playhouse during its high-end auction this year, he jumped at the chance to get his students involved. As part of the Trades Career Cluster program, the 15 teenagers would hone their carpentry, electrical and other technical skills. As part of Make-A-Wish, they would learn something more intangible.

“We’re learning this life is bigger than us,” he said.

The teenagers started planning the firetruck in March, visiting local fire stations to ensure their designs were realistic. With $1,500 in wood donated from Hammond Lumber and various parts from other area businesses, the students spent months framing, painting and building the firetruck nearly to scale.

By the last day of school, the playhouse stood in a construction bay at the high school, its bright red paint freshly touched up.

Two blue toy helmets sat on the dashboard. An “International Association of Firefighters” sticker clung to the driver’s side window.

Two removable ladders were hooked to each side and three others leaned against the truck bed, where O’Neill, the teaching assistant, hopes to install a sandbox or ball pit before the auction.

He and eight students will give up part of their summer vacation to haul the firetruck to the Portland Marriott for the auction next month. A couple of the students, including LaChance, will stay to help with the evening event.

Just days after the end of the school year, they were already talking about building another playhouse next year.

Thinking of his cousin, LaChance believes it’s the least he can do.