Nahant vets post serves as training ground

NAHANT – It has served generations of veterans and on Saturday it served as a training ground for Nahant firefighters.The American Legion Post on Coolidge Road is scheduled to be razed within the next couple weeks, so the new owners of the property donated use of the building to the fire department for training purposes.The property was purchased by resident Joe Moccia, who sub-divided the property into two house lots and sold the lot containing the actual building to resident Richard Scourtas.Scourtas donated the use of the building to the fire department for training exercise at the suggestion of his brother-in-law.”My father was a veteran,” he said. “This was a way of letting the building be of service one last time.”Fire Chief Robert Ward said the training lasted almost four hours and a dozen firefighters participated.”It went well,” he said. “The building was filled with artificial smoke. The basic scenario was search and rescue. When the guys were on the second floor we blocked the exits so they had to go out another way. The guys got practice running live lines and bringing victims down a ladder.”Moccia, who watched the training on Saturday, said he was impressed by how quickly firefighters were able to cut a hole in the roof and gain access to the building, which was filled with smoke.”I watched the firemen put a ladder against the window and carry down another fireman who was pretending to be unconscious,” he said. “It was pretty impressive how quickly they were able to get up and down the ladder while carrying another firefighter draped across their arms.”