|
|
|
A building to burn
 |
Sylva Fire Chief Mike Beck, right, and retired firefighter Harold Norman survey the fire department’s recently-completed training facility on Fisher Creek. The two-story modular steel building will allow Sylva’s all-volunteer force to simulate conditions of actual crisis situations, then put out practice fires with water from one of the reservoirs from the town’s old water treatment plant, seen in the background. Firefighters initially will burn wood pallets to create fires to fight, and use a smoke machine to give trainees the chance to practice using their airpacks, Beck said. Should the department secure the $20,000 necessary to buy a computer system, fires will eventually be powered by propane, with temperatures and burn areas computer-regulated. To date, the facility has cost more than $60,000, with much of the work done by the firefighters themselves and Wayne Smith, who’s donated several thousands in both labor and supplies. The late Willa Mae Scroggs, the daughter of fire department founder A.J. Dills, left the department $10,000, so the building will soon be formally dedicated as the Dills-Scroggs Memorial Fire Training Facility. The volunteer firefighters will most likely practice weekly at the site, Beck said. That’s in addition to responding to calls, which numbered 556 in 2004, up from 340 in 1995. – Herald photo by Carey King |
|
