Palmerton officials asked the fire chief again to attend their next scheduled meeting to field questions related to a proposed controlled burn in the borough. 

Borough Council originally asked Jason Behler, of Palmerton Volunteer Fire Company, to come to a meeting in August, after Behler brought up the prospect of using a double home on Lehigh Avenue for fire training. He was unable to make that meeting.

But the idea to use the property at 509 and 511 Lehigh Ave. - which is owned by the borough - for live burn exercises came up again at council’s most recent meeting. 

“Realistically, nothing’s changed,” Behler said Thursday night. 

“I know there was some opposition from local residents,” he added, noting that he still hoped to conduct the training. 

When he posed the possibility of the live burn in late summer, Behler said training would start in the attics of the three-story homes, and then firefighters would descend from there, setting and putting out fires room by room until they reached the basement. Structurally unstable, the east side of the homes would be burned, causing the west side to collapse into the basement.

The training could take that route, but council also brought up the possibility of just using the rooms for training and having the entire building demolished once firefighters were finished. Either way, the exercises would take place under the supervision of certified officials.

Timewise, if approved, the burn would most likely take place sometime next year, as Behler said the paperwork process itself takes approximately three months.

But borough council is hesitant to move in any direction without giving residents a chance to have their questions answered by Behler directly. 

“I still think the people who live by are thinking ‘house fire,’” Michael Ballard, councilmember, said. “That’s their perception, that the place is fully ablaze.” 

So, on Nov. 7, Behler plans to return to borough hall for council’s next scheduled meeting, which will begin promptly at 7 p.m.