Mold Claims Virginia Firehouse

April 4, 2006
Tropical Storm Gaston took its toll on the small but comfy volunteer station.

The tone sounds and the Wagstaff volunteers jump up off the couch and run to the engine or brush truck. In a just a few short minutes they are racing into the day or night ready to serve.

The volunteers do not have far to run because their couch and TV are in a makeshift living room located in the apparatus bay in the station. Why? Tropical Storm Gaston took its toll on the small but comfy volunteer station. Flooded out during the storm, Gaston left a horrible calling card in the building. Mold.

Now the mold is temporarily Lord and Master of the building.

The mold has claimed nearly three-fourths of the building leaving a mere one-fourth of space for the firefighters. Yet, they refuse to give in to the frustrations and small space.

Captain Tom Berry of Wagstaff says the mold is "not toxic but is a respiratory irritant."

Before Gaston, the once all-volunteer Wagstaff had become a combination station.

With the drastic reduction in size and mold hazard the career fighters were relocated from Wagstaff to Manchester. Now Wagstaff is all-volunteer again.

When the career members were transferred out, Berry said, a letter was distributed to the neighborhood and posted on the station, explaining the situation, stating the career member were transferred and that even though someone may not always be at the station, the area was still covered.

Repairs and ridding the building of the mold problem, explained Berry, could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. The plan is to earn the funds, Berry continued, and build a new building. In the end it would be about the same cost.

It's estimated that the cost of a new building would be around $200,000, said Berry.

Wagstaff hosts a membership of about twenty-five volunteers. The station came to be in 1952 and was donated by Samuel Wagstaff.

In its current condition, the station space for firefighter is a small bunk room upstairs, a small meeting area downstairs, and in the apparatus bay between the engine and brush truck is a rigged up living room.

It's a little small right now, but Wagstaff's Bravest are still proud to call it home. For information on joining Wagstaff or making a donation calls (804) 276-3696.

Voice Your Opinion!

To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of Firehouse, create an account today!