A firefighting icon that also serves as an warning tool could reappear in Temple in the near future.
A Smokey Bear fire danger sign has been stored in a town facility for years, and Tuesday evening the Select Board voted to have it placed in a public space. The fire danger notice board with Smokey will be placed on a grass triangle at the center of town between the two cemeteries and the Willard & Cournoyer – The Temple Store, pending permission from the state. This approval is required as the area abuts Route 45, which is a state road.
Residents Marty Connolly and Gail Cromwell raised the matter with the board, and on Wednesday, Fire Chief George Clark explained why the sign was not currently in a public space.
“Temple has a very nice and very historical center of town, and when we got the sign, various committees that oversee those spaces expressed concern over it being placed such that it could take away from the aesthetic of various places,” said Clark, adding that it has been hibernating in the fire station since the department acquired it two years ago. The town will now request the state’s permission for the placement.
“If the state says no, we’ll put it somewhere else,” said board member George Willard.
In other news, the board voted to renew a permit for a junkyard on Leighton Lane, pending a town inspection of the site.