Mould strikes fire station

Unacceptable mould levels have temporarily forced firefighters from their Neebing Detachment.

An official with the Thunder Bay Fire and Rescue Service says he’s not sure how long the crew, which has set up shop for now at the James Street station, will be displaced. Acting chief Greg Hankkio said Thursday the problem was uncovered during a routine inspection and it was immediately decided the mould levels posed a health risk to firefighters.

"Yesterday we received a report from the facility’s division regarding a microbiological analysis that was done on air sample at Neebing fire station. As a result of the analysis we felt it prudent for the health of our firefighters to remove them from the station," Hankkio said. "So for all intents and purposes they are not there and not responding (from there) at this time."

Tests are regularly conducted at all detachments, Hankkio said, though this is the first one that’s caused them to evacuate a station. In the past, mould has been found at the Junot Street station, but the concentration levels weren’t on the same scale as the Neebing incident.

Hankkio said the firefighters from the detachment are still responding to calls in their jurisdiction, adding that residents and businesses are not at additional risk despite the added distance.

"Right now we’re still deploying the same number of apparatus and the same number of people to any given emergency. We’re still quite early … in the whole process," he said. "We have secured an alternate location for our apparatus and the staff, we’re just working on the logistics now to make the decision whether or not we’re going to move them to that location."

Hankkio declined to say where the alternate location was, other than it is somewhere in Neebing.

Just what caused the mould to appear is still under investigation, he continued, saying that it’s been found in several locations throughout the building. It’s still too early to tell, he said, noting they are working on a plan to mitigate the situation.

Nothing is going to happen overnight, he said, but no one should be worried.

"We’ve got some decisions to make, but it’s still quite early. We’re comfortable with the truck at James (Street) right now and the truck we have."