SOUTHWICK – With the new salt shed behind the College Highway DPW facility complete, it has left the status of the old shed unknown. Prior to the brand new salt shed, the previous one was located behind the fire department on Depot St.
Now that it won’t be used by town officials, Southwick Fire Chief Russ Anderson approached the Select Board during their meeting on Monday night with a recommendation that he wanted endorsed.
Anderson’s proposal is that the space that was previously used for salt storage should be now used for training his firefighters.
Southwick Fire Chief Russ Anderson
Specifically, Anderson wants to have fire training exercises. According to Anderson, he believes that every firefighter in his department should do the training with a live fire at least once.
Anderson said that the unit to be used for training will consist of hay and pallets with a steel liner.
Mass DEP has already issued Anderson a permit that would run from April to November next year and the permit would cover 12 live fires for the training.
In order to get approval, Anderson has also met with several committees and organizations in town. During the meeting with the Select Board, Anderson stood by his recommendation.
“I’m looking for your endorsement to take it to the next step,” said Anderson.
The Select Board made the motion to go further along with Anderson’s request and will be moving forward in the near future.
