Auburn, MA — The town of Auburn dedicated its new firefighter training facility to late Chief Roger Belhumeur in a special ceremony Saturday morning.

Belhumeur, who served as the town's chief for 16 years, passed away from cancer in 2016. 

The state-of-the-art training facility will be used by departments throughout the state's Fire District 7. The building will allow firefighters to train in real-world fire scenarios.

Attendees remembered Belhumeur as someone who loved the town of Auburn.

"There was really no question in terms of how we were going to honor Roger," Auburn Fire Chief Stephen Coleman said. "Roger would have loved this today. He would love standing here and looking at this building, and I've said on many occasions that I wish he was here to see it."

"There's no question, the best insurance policy anyone of us can have is a well-trained fire department," state Sen. Anne Gobi added. "And with this behind us, with this facility and what you'll do for this entire district, is extremely, extremely important."

Funding for the building came from a $525,000 Assistance to Firefighters Grant from FEMA. An additional $120,000 came from longtime Auburn resident Norma Card, who left the money to the department in a will when she died.