New York Firefighters Forced to Vacate Firehouse

LACKAWANNA, N.Y. (WIVB) – Some of Lackawanna’s bravest are worried that they’ve been exposed to asbestos while working on the job.

Lackawanna Fire House #3 has been under renovation, specifically for asbestos abatement for the last month.

But since about December 7th, testing has shown unsafe levels of asbestos inside the Fire House.

The recent test results were actually ordered by the firefighters who hired an independent lab to come in after they started noticing a large amount of dust in the building.

The dust was mainly on the second floor but it was being trapped throughout the Fire House.

The lab results sow dangerous levels of asbestos in the that dust and raw building material that was left sitting on the ground, which is contrary to the air quality tests that have been going on in the Fire House.

The latest test results came back Thursday, December 8th but it wasn’t until December 17th that the City Engineer ordered firefighters to vacate the building until it can be cleaned up.

The President of the Firefighter’s union would have liked the City to react quicker.

“A memo was published that we should avoid the second floor as best as possible. That was a less than appropriate response to the level of  asbestos that was in the building”, said Capt. Thomas Mendez.

The contractor was present working on the situation. It has told the Fire Department that it should only take 5 or 6 days to clean up all the dust and asbestos out of the building.

The dispatch area is being worked on first to ensure that the dispatchers can return to work as soon as possible.

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