POCATELLO - After months of planting and work at Sacajawea Park in Pocatello the city hopes the fire department will use area for live fire training, and the destruction should be good for the area.

The goal would be to let the fire burn off all the undergrowth and noxious weeds in the area so that native plants could regrow making the park more beautiful.

For nearly a year Sacajawea Park has been under construction as crews have turned it into a wetland.

The city hopes that the new growth following the fire training will help the area continue to rejuvenate. Jerry Sepich, Parks and Recreation director said, "There is quite a bit of dead fall in there we'd just like to get cleaned up, and we think that the end result will be that the park will look at lot more inviting to the public."

The trainings will take place on the North end of the park giving firefighters from Pocatello, Chubbuck, and Fort Hall practice fighting an actual fire. David Gates, Pocatello Fire Department Division Chief said, "It allows you to visualize real fire behavior, face fire behavior, but while still doing it in the safest conditions possible."

The live burns will create a lot of smoke and make the area smell like fire for a few days, but neighbors seem to like the idea. Larae Cadwallader said, "It would definitely improve it, because it has been kind of let go."

Mindy Frost, who lives down the street said, "Yes, it would be a big benefit. We need the new growth." Beverly Henson added, "Before they started working on it it was an eyesore, but now it's really getting to look nice."

With so many homes nearby the fire department will be careful about when and where they burn. Gates said, "We're going to break this down into smaller blocks, burn smaller sections at a time, so we don't get the full intensity but a bortion of that."

The trainings will also prevent the area from being a fire hazard in the future and will create more areas for wildlife.

The city hasn't set any specific date for the fire training yet, because they wanted to find out what people in the area thought about the idea.

If you do have any comments or suggestions you can contact the Pocatello Parks and Recreation Department at 232-3901.