Lewes firefighters use Shields school for training exercises

When nearly a dozen Lewes Fire Department trucks show up at a location, it attracts curious onlookers. Such was the case early Aug. 6, when Lewes volunteers, as well as firefighters from Dover and Camden, pulled up in front of the former Richard Shields Elementary School off Savannah Road. According to spokesman Glenn Marshall, the department received permission from Cape Henlopen School District officials to use the old school as a training site prior to its demolition later this month. Marshall said firefighters used aerial trucks and ladders to climb to the roof and practice cutting holes to vent out fire and smoke during an actual blaze.

Shields Elementary, which was vacated this past spring when students moved across the street to the new Lewes Elementary School, will be torn down to make way for a new middle school.