The council members who sit on the public safety committee asked the department to provide them with data on its operations to help determine how best to allocate resources to improve response times, repair aging firehouses and vehicles, and provide proper overtime pay to employees. Councilman Brandon Scott demanded that Ford provide a detailed account of the conditions of all 38 fire stations across the city to avoid having to close any because of hazards, such as a decrepit roof that recently shuttered a firehouse on Reisterstown Road.  

The building was constructed in 1967 and has major electrical and mechanical problems, according to city officials. A 2015 evaluation commissioned by the city warned that the station sits below the federal government’s flood elevation standards and could become “inaccessible” after a major storm, preventing rescue crews from providing emergency assistance to surrounding neighborhoods.  

The fire department has also outgrown the station, said Fire Chief Virgil Fernandez.