Fire department dedicates training tower to late charter member

PRAIRIEVILLE, La. (WAFB) - A long-time firefighter’s legacy is being is being memorialized with his name on the building where firefighters train.

The Prairieville Fire Department hosted a dedication for the naming of the Walter Leftwich Training Tower on Thursday, Nov. 16, at the main fire station on La. Highway 73.

Ascension Parish Fire District 3 Chief Mark Stewart says Walter Leftwich was a charter member who helped get the volunteer fire department started in 1970 and saw it through its early formative years.

“And then when we created this area in Prairieville as a fire district and went more to paid personal and more to full-time operations as a fire department, once again Mr. Walter took the lead and was very instrumental in creating the fire district and getting the funding mechanisms so we could have paid firefighters,” Stewart said.

Leftwich died in March of 2022.

The training tower is used for a variety of training, including recruit training, ongoing daily training, live fire training, firefighting operations, rescue training, and more.

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