A state agency requires testing on the condemned fire training tower in Lehighton before it can be demolished.

Carbon County Commissioner Wayne Nothstein, a Lehighton firefighter and member of the Carbon County Fireman's Association, said Thursday that the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection told the association that testing must be completed to see if there is any asbestos in the construction materials used to build the tower.Nothstein said that he wasn't sure where asbestos would be found in the 35-foot steel frame and concrete structure."The only place possible that may have asbestos could be in the roofing materials," he said, noting that Seitz Brothers of Tamaqua took samples in the building and now they are waiting on the results.The cost of the testing was $299, and an inspection as required by the borough cost $525.Until all that is complete, the building will stand silent in Baer Memorial athletic fields, crumbling slowly from 50 years of wear and tear.Nothstein said that a meeting is being planned with the association to discuss creating a new fire and emergency training facility, possibly near the Carbon County Correctional Facility in Nesquehoning.An engineer has volunteered some time to help the group plot a layout, Nothstein continued.Funding is going to be the biggest issue though, he said.Previous estimates said the cost could be over $1 million for total replacement of the facility.The fire training tower has been used hard by area firefighters training to learn about ladder rescues, rappelling, fighting fires from ladders and searching in smoky structures.Earlier this month, Nothstein and John McArdle, president of the Carbon County Fireman's Association, explained that an inspection determined the structure was in danger of collapsing and could no longer be used.The report found that all the floor joists holding up the second floor room are in serious condition. Four of the floor joists holding up the third floor have corroded "to the point where structural integrity has been compromised.""The eastern and western exterior masonry walls have separated from the interior shear wall by inch to inch" on the third floor. There are large cracks in the masonry. Most of the roof joists are in poor condition.