Acting on two measures concerning Cherokee County Fire & Emergency Services, the county Board of Commissioners has approved an agreement allowing live fire training in vacant houses, and accepted $7,000 in donations for the Fire Explorer program.

Commissioners approved a hold harmless agreement with Northside Hospital Inc. that would allow firefighters to train using abandoned residential structures owned by the hospital.

The hospital recently acquired about 24 parcels on or near Key Drive, east of the Northside Hospital Cherokee campus in Canton, and the acquisition included nine houses with addresses of 225 to 545 Key Drive. The buildings are scheduled to be demolished and removed.

Separately, commissioners accepted two donations totaling $7,000 from the Amicalola Electric Membership Corp. of Jasper for the Fire Explorers; and approved a budget amendment to allocate the funds and increase the Fiscal Year 2020 budget.