Student firefighters can really take the heat

LAKEVILLE — A visitor to Lake Wonoscopomuc might be curious at the sight of some rather young-looking firefighters in full turnout gear.

These aren’t full-fledged firefighters yet. They’re  students from The Hotchkiss School, working and training with the regular firefighters and the junior firefighters of the Lakeville Hose company.

Doug Kneeland at Hotchkiss said the program began last winter as part of an effort by the school to form “a tighter bond with the Lakeville Hose Company,� Salisbury’s all-volunteer fire department.

Students from Housatonic Valley Regional High School are participating as well, he said. Many Lakeville youths are already junior members  of the Hose Company.

Drills are held every other week, and students  get classroom instruction as well.

Kneeland said Hotchkiss students have been on several live drills, including the controlled burn of the old wooden ski jump at Satre Hill and a search-and-rescue mission in the woods around Hotchkiss.

The fire department members coordinating with the school are Tim Vallano, Chip Carlton and Scott Robinson. Kneeland said, “They’ve been great.�

Last year the school made a significant financial contribution to the new firehouse on Brook Street in the form of a matching grant of up to $400,000.

The funds will be paid over a five-year period on a macthing basis of one dollar from Hotchkiss for each dollar-and-a-half raised from other donations. If the other donations total $600,000, then Hotchkiss will contribute the entire $400,000.

In his letter to Rand announcing the grant in 2009, Head  of School Malcolm McKenzie wrote, “More important than even the cash amount is our feeling at Hotchkiss that this matching pledge is an expression of how much the school values being part of the greater Salisbury communty and also how much we value the extraordinary service rendered by our volunteer firefighters.

“This tradition of volunteering for emergency services is a fine New England custom that simply does not exist in most other places.

“The development of a spirit of service and public purpose is a gift that we at Hotchkiss want to offer our students, and you are able to help us here.�

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