PLYMOUTH, MA—Firefighters were forced from their headquarters earlier this week after a roof repair project sent years of mold, dust and debris raining into their living quarters and offices on Sandwich Street.
Fire Chief Ed Bradley said the town's health inspector declared the building uninhabitable, forcing headquarters' crews and employees to work from remote stations, the town's emergency operations center and even their cars. The station's engine and ladder companies are able to work from the ground floor of the building by day, but the crews have been moved to the West Plymouth station overnight, compromising response times to emergencies downtown.
The department's office staff is currently working out of the emergency operations center in Cedarville. Fire inspectors and shift commanders are working from their vehicles.
Bradley said the building's second floor offices and living quarters will remain closed until a clean-up is completed and air quality tests confirm the environment is safe. Officials said Tuesday that it will likely be at least 10 days before the station can be fully reoccupied.
The contractor replacing the roof, meanwhile, was in a race against time to secure the building before Wednesday's forecasted rain.
Rain last week contributed to the problem, pushing work until Monday's holiday, when the second floor offices were not occupied. As crew removed the old roof, eight inches of accumulated debris and insulation rained down in gaps in the ceiling.
Bradley said the roofing contractor hopes the roof can be repaired before Wednesday's rain. The Fire Department would have to find some way to cover its equipment and records otherwise.
Bradley said inspectors also found electrical problems in the ceiling that must be addressed before the second floor of the building is safe to occupy. The building also has problems with leaking windows and flooding in the basement and, according to Bradley and firefighters, is just one of several fire stations in town that needs major work.
"It's disgusting that our firefighters have had to live in this squalor. We've had it," Bradley said.
The town is building a new fire station in North Plymouth that is slated to open in the spring. Bradley has proposed building a new fire headquarters off Long Pond Road.
Local firefighters thanked the town for closing off headquarters until testing is conducted. In a letter to town officials and residents, Brain Baragwanath, president of Plymouth Fire Fighters Local 1768, called for a professional, industrial-grade cleaning and independent testing of the debris.
"Firefighters should be asked to return to the building only when their chief, their employer and their union agree we have done everything possible to assure them it is safe for occupancy," Baragwanath wrote.
Baragwanath said the town should use the opportunity to address the safety shortcomings of all fire stations in town, noting that fire stations are often a community's least habitable and safe buildings.
"Let us take this opportunity to make Plymouth a shining exception to this rule," Baragwanath said.
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