Fire Department News

What’s happening at the Big Brown House?
 
As many of you know, this spring the Town of Landaff purchased the “Hatch” house (the Big Brown House next to the Fire Station in the center of town) for future expansion needs. Management of the project was given to the Fire Department, as we anticipate burning the building in a training exercise later this fall.
 
But first, we had to clear the lot of years of accumulated junk, which was piled everywhere, inside and outside, and hidden by overgrown weeds and trees.
 
During the week of June 19th, we were able to enlist the help of the Grafton County Department of Corrections work crew to do a lot of the physical labor. In just two days, this team of six, supervised by a Corrections Officer, tackled the job with the following results:
 
      Recovered 44 tires, including 2 large skidder tires
 
      Filled three large truckloads of metal, which were recycled, including two refrigerators, two washers, two furnaces, two woodstoves, one freezer, one auto chassis, two engine blocks, two pick-up bodies, 16 bicycles, two swing sets, and one large cargo van.
 
In addition, the crew completely filled two thirty-yard dumpsters with material taken inside the house and a nearby storage shed, cleared brush, and created a huge burn pile.
 
They also stacked the tiles from the recent roofing project at Town Hall and created eleven pallets of slate for storage.
 
Building materials, two mopeds, and some other items were also recovered and will be offered for sale at the Old Home Day auction on August 18th.
 
Tom Smith, our Road Agent, brought his new backhoe and helped move material around, filled and packed the dumpster, picked up metals, and recycled the tires, while Doug Erb loaned his large farm truck and hauled all of the scrap metal to the junkyard for recycling. Pat Webb acted as Project Manager and organized the effort.
 
Now that the area around the house is clear, Fire Chief Harry McGovern will set a training date and meet with other local department chiefs to establish which agencies will participate and what skills are needed for the personnel.