In 1912, when the fire station on South Prospect Street is thought to have been built, firefighters used horses to pull their fire apparatus, said Marion City Fire Chief Chuck Deem.

"This building was built to house horses, not 67,000-pound ladder trucks," he said.

Now, the ladder truck is believed to have played a role in cracks and leaks in the floor, one of several structural issues the fire chief says are plaguing the main fire station at 186 S. Prospect St.

Fire officials have proposed repairs, but city lawmakers have raised questions about the price tag.

The strange case of Station 31 was supposed to be closed. In the early 2000s, firefighters rang alarm bells about the number of people who worked in the North Seattle location and had gotten sick — as many as 25 in the immediately preceding years, Seattle Weekly reported at the time. A state Department of Health study concluded that, between when the station opened in 1975 and 2003, 119 of its resident firefighters became sick with cancer.

The story ballooned as the firefighters demanded an investigation into the root of the problem and accused then-mayor Greg Nickels of resisting. At one point, Station 31 Capt. Bruce Amer threatened to pitch a tent city outside the station in protest. 

For the mayor and the general public, the conclusion seemed to cap the controversy and the issue largely disappeared. 

But for members of the Seattle Fire Department, Station 31 has never shed its reputation as an unsafe place to work. In the years since the building was declared harmless, more current and former firefighters from the station have become ill. How many, no one can say; the accounting is anecdotal. But Capt. Mike Gagliano said in just the last year, three have gotten sick. To this day, it’s still known as the “Cancer House.”