PHOTOS: Eleven Haverhill firefighters were joined by their fellow fire professionals from eight other Massachusetts communities on Sunday to hone their skills on how to safely and efficiently draw water from ponds and move it to a remote fire site quickly. The Massachusetts Fire Academy brought its two-day Rural Water class to Plug Pond, also known as Lake Saltonstall, offering a six-hour session of classroom instruction on Saturday matched with a six-hour hand-on training exercise in the pouring rain Sunday. Jake Wark, the communications officer for the firefighting academy, explained why Rural Water is a popular class offering for fire services across the state. “Water is our most fundamental tool for firefighters. It’s the oldest we have and one of the most powerful that we have. It is especially important for fighting fires in structures and wild fires,” he explained.
