Town Council told that current rate of fires could level it
By Mark Cowling | Florence Reminder
If the historic downtown keeps losing buildings to fire at the rate it has for the last two decades, the neighborhood could be gone in 50 years, Fire Chief David Strayer and Town Manager Brent Billingsley reported to the Town Council.
In a bid to counter this trend, the council voted to invest the town’s next Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) in water infrastructure improvements that would cut the cost of installing sprinklers by one-third in downtown buildings. In the recent past, the town has used its CDBG grant to rehabilitate owner-occupied housing for income-qualified Florence residents.
