TOLEDO, Ohio -- Fire Chief Luis Santiago ordered a North Toledo fire station closed on Thursday night after crews discovered the floor had cracked and shifted.
Crews and equipment from Station 3, 701 Bush St., were moved a little more than a mile away to East Toledo's Station 13, 1899 Front St., with concerns that the floor could collapse as a fire engine would back into the apparatus bay, said fire Lt. Matthew Hertzfeld.
Lieutenant Hertzfeld said that crews had previously noticed the cracks in the floor, but upon further inspection on Thursday night, realized the floor had shifted.
"Chief Santiago didn't want to take any chances with this," Lieutenant Hertzfeld said. "We could have a rig back in and fall through or firefighters could be stepping off the rig. Who knows what could happen."
The station was built in the early 1900s "when fire trucks didn't weigh 45,000 pounds," the lieutenant said.
Fire officials don't expect the change in stations to impact calls for service very much, if at all. Other stations will help pick up calls for service, including Stations 7, 5, and 24. Stations 7 and 5 are in the central city; Station 24 is in North Toledo. Crews from 3 will also be able to get to their service area easily by using the Veterans' Glass City Skyway bridge, Lieutenant Hertzfeld said.
Station 3 crews will stay at Station 13 until a temporary garage next to the Bush Street location is built so the engine can be stored there. From there, officials will look at permanent solutions.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
