Sean McDonnell – cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio – A Cleveland fire station is temporarily closed after rainy weather led to roof leaks this weekend, prompting City Council members to demand an explanation and a plan for better maintenance from Mayor Justin Bibb.
Fire station 30 in Glenville was temporarily closed Sunday evening because of water leaks, city spokesman Tyler Sinclair said. A hazmat contractor has been brought in to make sure the building is safe and to see if any remediation or abatement is needed. The city also plans to replace the building’s roof.
Councilman Mike Polensek, who chairs council’s public safety committee, said firefighters called him to say that the roof has been leaking for years. Those first responders told Polensek that mold was growing in the building, and the smell is what led to it being closed, he said.
In a joint statement, Councilmen Kevin Conwell and Anthony Hairston said they weren’t notified before the fire station was closed, saying they learned it was temporarily shut down through news reports and residents.
The fire station is at East 103rd Street and St. Clair Avenue, and serves the Glenville neighborhood and nearby Bratenahl, where Cleveland provides fire coverage. The station usually has nine firefighters on duty.
Sinclair said those firefighters were reassigned to three nearby stations. He said officials have put plans in place so that services aren’t affected.
Council members have long said that some of Cleveland’s fire stations and police district stations are in need of repairs. During recent budget hearings, members said the city needs more capital repair dollars for these public safety facilities.
Polensek said this closed fire station magnifies a bigger problem — a lack of maintenance at city-owned facilities. He said many public safety buildings have issues, whether its leaky roofs, a lack of heat and air-conditioning or plumbing issues. So, too, do city-owned recreation centers, Polensek said.
He called the state of Cleveland’s city-owned buildings “an embarrassment.”
“They’ve got to come up with a game plan to fix buildings,” Polensek said.
Polensek has since sent a letter to Public Safety Director Wayne Drummond and is asking him to come to council meeting to discuss the city’s facilities.
Hairston and Conwell said they will “immediately demand a full explanation for this closure and work to ensure Fire Station 30 reopens swiftly, and safely for our firefighters, paramedics and EMTs.”
Sean McDonnell is a reporter for cleveland.com and the Plain Dealer. You can reach him at smcdonnell@cleveland.com.
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