Firefighters whose west Little Rock station was damaged following Friday’s tornado are operating out of a different location as cleanup efforts continued Monday, arkansasonline.com reported.
A Little Rock Fire Department official said the move was temporary, but that it was too soon to tell when the firefighters would be able to return to work at their station, the report said.
Fire Station No. 9, 1324 North Shackleford Road, was heavily damaged when the tornado swept through Central Arkansas, cutting a six-and-a-half mile trail of destruction in the city before continuing north through North Little Rock, Sherwood and Jacksonville, according to the report.
A fire official said the station firefighters had been preparing their apparatus and tools Friday when the tornado struck, the report said.
After the tornado passed, they examined the station for damage and shut off the water and gas, according to the report. A 40-foot beam had traveled roughly 60 yards from a neighboring church and struck “halfway through the station,” the report said.
One of the facility’s engine bay doors flew about 80 yards to the west, damaging another building, the report said.
Despite the damage to the facility, its vehicles — two engines, a ladder truck, an SUV and the battalion chief’s pickup — are operational, the report said.