FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. --
The firefighters from Fire Station 49, who handle fiery calls on Fort Lauderdale Beach, are now working out of a trailer.
The old Fire Station 49 is now a pile of rubble, and the new fire station has not been constructed yet. The fire trucks are kept under a tent.
"I can understand the concern of someone driving by, down the street, and the fire house that was there is no longer there, and down the block is a fire station that is a mobile home and a tent," Chief Robert Hoecherl told Local 10's Janine Stanwood.
The firefighters continue their work from a trailer, even though it is just a few weeks from the chance for walloping, whipping winds of hurricane season, which is not mobile home-friendly at all.
"Even in a permanent structure, our concrete firehouses, when we have imminent impact, we're going to go ahead and evacuate the entire beach area," Hoecherl said.
According to Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue, all three stations on the barrier island would evacuate anyway in the event of a hurricane.
Firefighters also said the facilities, across from the Swimming Hall of Fame, may not be ideal, but the location is close enough to the permanent station that response times to calls are not compromised.
So while the new Station 49 is being constructed on the site of the old building, the city of Fort Lauderdale said the men and women inside are safe and enjoying firehouse comforts in a pre-fab pad.
Fort Lauderdale voters approved a referendum in 2004 for a bond to improve and reconstruct several fire stations in the city. Firefighters at Station 49 will be coming to work at a trailer for about a year until the new digs are done.
