Thought you might like to know that Lawson's in downtown Pocomoke City is now a smoldering footnote in Pocomoke City history. This derelict building that has been vacant for several years and was threatening to collapse was the object of a controlled burn and training exercise this evening, by the Pocomoke Volunteer Fire Company, Inc.
Pocomoke VFC was very ably assisted by volunteers and equipment from Princess Anne, Greenbackville, Snow Hill and Stockton fire companies. I sincerely hope I did not miss any other companies that may have assisted, if so, my sincere apologies. The Ladies Auxiliary of Pocomoke VFC were on site to provide food and drinks, Pocomoke City Police Dept. assisted with traffic control and Pocomoke City Public Works provided equipment and manpower to remove debris from the streets and sidewalks.
Detailed planning and preparation by Pocomoke City VFC personnel, enabled the fire companies to safely burn this building, despite its location on the downtown block of Clarke Ave. & Willow St. About 95% of the building collapsed inward on itself as planned, while one small piece fell onto Clarke Ave. This debris was quickly rounded up and dumped back into the fire by PC Public Works.
Lawson's in ages past was the elegant Parker House Hotel, known far and wide for fine food and hospitality. Hopefully the property will, one day soon, be home to a new and thriving business to help continue the revitalization of downtown Pocomoke City.
In closing I would like to say that as a resident of Pocomoke City and a Councilman, I am extremely proud of the excellent teamwork exhibited by all the fire companies, ladies auxiliary, Pocomoke City Police Dept. and Public Works Dept. Their training, dedication and professionalism were highly evident as they carried out this "urban renewal" project this evening.
BTW, good luck in your mayoral race.
Sincerely,
Rob Clarke
Councilman, 5th Dist.
Pocomoke City
8 comments:
Wouldn't it be nice if every mayor could share things like this with the public and in such a nice way. Got news and a history lesson all in one, with a dose of kudos for those deserving of it.
And he didn't scream at the council for demolition funds, either. Even took a moment to be gracious to you, Joe.
Beats the heck out of the self-promoting press releases that Ireton does and his utter lack of leadership in relating to others.
This was an ansolute STUPID stunt! Just to avoid tipping fees, you risked other properties. No decent fire company would consider this, only in pocojoke.
I am surprised the enviro-wackos would allow this. Lots of nasty stuff going up in the atmosphere instead of the landfill. Open burning is not allowed in most municipalities. Fun for the FD though!
I burn in my backyard all the time. Granted it's not a 3 story building but screw the epa.
To the negative commenters: Your ignorance is showing. Controlled burns are not done for the primary purpose of avoiding tipping fees. And as for releasing nasty stuff into the atmosphere, that is minimized by the selective removal of hazardous materials prior to the controlled burn. A great deal of preparation and planning, environmental, and safety consideration goes into these exercises. People who are protected by volunteer firefighters should be thankful that they take time from their busy lives to learn how to very able protect others and minimize their homeowners' insurance rates. Pocomoke's all-volunteer fire company has incredible training, facilities, and equipment, which would be the envy of even some professional fire companies. So go ahead and have your laugh (Pocojoke...how clever.). If you ever have a traffic accident on your way through Pocomoke, maybe you'll change your tune when you see how quickly and competently your incident is handled.
Dude, don't lose any sleep over these naysayers. Some people are not happy unless there is drama and the pot stirred. If there is no drama they will make some and stir the pot themselves.
I have a sister like this.
I agree this is excellent training for fire departments. Years ago I watched one of these burns and before hand they did other practice techniques like filling the building with smoke and the firefighers were able to actually go in with air masks and get first hand experience on what a smoke filled building is like. There is nothing like first hand experience.
I agree with 8:33. It must be a Pocomoke thing because it seems the elected officials from Pocomoke are truly the people's elected officials. Councilman Clarke and Del McDermott are the best in keeping the public informed and it is appreciated by us.
If anyone needs a volunteer to help burn down buildings I'm sure the guy in Accomac Co will be available.And he's free!!
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