March 03--Atlantic City could be looking for a temporary firehouse in the city's Chelsea Heights section if necessary rebuilding from Hurricane Sandy leads into the summer, the fire chief said.
Station 5 at Annapolis and Crossan avenues suffered damage from the storm that brought heavy floods, including losing the water heater, which now will be raised as the heating system -- which was not damaged -- already was. The station lost part of its kitchen, and old wooden lockers had to be pulled out and will be replaced. The rebuilding is following FEMA rules, so it's unclear when things will be completed, Brooks said.
The closure has not taken any firefighters or equipment out of service, he said. Instead, the trucks and personnel normally assigned to that station are at Station 6, over the Albany Avenue Bridge in Lower Chelsea. A mutual-aid agreement with Ventnor gives the department backup from the station in Ventnor Heights in case the bridge is up.
But the summer will mean the bridge will be up more and could cause problems, so Brooks said there is an alternative plan to work out of another area in Chelsea Heights until Station 5 can reopen.
Three stations suffered damage from the storm. Station 2 at Baltic and Indiana avenues has temporary heating after the heater -- which is currently in the basement -- was under water in the storm. The plan is to move that to the first floor, Brooks said.
Down Indiana at Grant Avenue, Station 3 lost its dishwasher. The heater and hot water heater did have some flooding but are working, for now. Brooks expects they'll need to be replaced eventually as well.
The department did not lose any trucks, because they were all moved to the Convention Center before the worst of the storm hit, Brooks said.
Station 5 was the only one that needed to close for an extended period.
Contact Lynda Cohen: 609-272-7257,
[email protected], Follow @LyndaCohen on Twitter
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