Fire Station 3 on Leon Street in New Sudbury will be closed a little while longer due to ongoing issues with traces of asbestos being found, linked to the ongoing renovations in the 49-year-old building.
A Facebook post Friday evening by the Sudbury Professional Fire Fighters Association (SPFFA) highlighted the discovery of asbestos and also stated the closure of Station 3 to accommodate the renovations means a 10-minute delay in responding to emergencies in the New Sudbury area.
“We want to keep you informed about a critical update regarding Station 3 in New Sudbury. The station is still unavailable for staff, meaning there is no immediate fire response from that location,” the post states in part. “Engine 3 is still co-located in Minnow Lake, resulting in potential delays of up to 10 minutes in responding to the New Sudbury area. This unavailability is due to the discovery of asbestos on surface swabs taken within the station.”
The issue with asbestos in the building is not new and is related to the building materials used at the time of the station’s construction in 1974. Both drywall compound and some of the floor tiles used contain asbestos, and deconstruction work that is part of the renovation can potentially cause asbestos particles to become airborne.
Various renovations have been ongoing at Station 3 for much of the past year. At this stage, all deconstruction work is completed, Deputy Chief Jesse Oshell told Sudbury.com on Nov. 24, and work in the living quarters is finished. Work will continue in other parts of the building that don’t impact its operation as a fire and paramedic station.
As the presence of asbestos was known, mitigation measures have been used to ensure the safety of fire and paramedic personnel, as reported earlier this year by Sudbury.com.
Those efforts haven’t always been completely successful, however.
Back on Jan. 24, Sudbury.com reported Station 3 was vacated after traces of potential asbestos were reportedly found, apparently stirred up by renovations to the washroom. However, on Jan. 31, the city issued a statement to say tests for asbestos were negative and the four-person fire crew and paramedics were cleared to return to the building on Leon Street.
While those tests were negative, as part of efforts to ensure the safety of staff and workers, regular swab testing and air sampling was instituted to provide ongoing monitoring for asbestos contamination, Oshell said.
Station 3 has been closed to fire and paramedic staff since Oct. 3 as the current stage of renovations have the potential of stirring up asbestos, Oshell said. A temporary enclosure was built to isolate the parts of the building where work was being done from areas to allow the station to function.
In early October, the city said the station would be closed for between two and four weeks to accommodate the work, but seven weeks later, the station remains closed.
The problem, both Oshell and the SPFFA said, is testing has detected asbestos twice in the past 10 days or so in areas that should have been isolated from the ongoing renovation work.
After each positive test, thorough cleaning and retesting must be done, Oshell said. The two positive tests, followed by cleaning and retesting, is the reason the building didn’t open earlier November as was expected, the deputy chief said.
“It was cleaned again this past week to make sure the space is safe,” Oshell said. “Staff (fire and paramedic crews) won’t be sent back until it is safe to do so.”
This delay is concerning, the SPFFA told Sudbury.com on Friday evening.
“The delay in completing the construction, now stretching into week seven instead of the initially anticipated two to four weeks, is indeed a matter of significant concern for us and our residents,” the association said.
“After multiple cleanings and multiple tests asbestos fibers were found within the station even in places that work was not supposed to have been conducted. The SPFFA had initially expressed concerns about designated substances and the necessity for thorough abatement measures and safety precautions during the construction process. Regrettably, it appears that these concerns are now surfacing as critical issues that should have been addressed promptly. Due to these safety concerns our firefighters are not returning to the station until city staff agree to a proper cleaning and abatement by a qualified contractor.”
Both Oshell and the SPFFA said getting firefighters and paramedics back into Station 3 is the top priority. The deputy chief said meetings involving city officials, including the association’s health and safety committee and executive, and city staff, are meeting Monday to plan a safe return to the building.
“The safety of our firefighters and the effective service to the New Sudbury community remain our top priorities,” the SPFFA said. “We are exploring every avenue to expedite the necessary abatement measures and create a safe environment for our firefighters to resume their duties at Station 3.”
The other concern, the deputy chief and the association said, is the impact the temporary closure of Station 3 has on response times in its coverage area.
“As we pointed out, this extended timeline has far-reaching implications, particularly the delayed response time of up to 10 minutes for the expansive New Sudbury community,” the association told Sudbury.com. “We are trying to ensure the public is aware of the continued significant delays in fire protection services in the New Sudbury area.”
Asked to explain how Greater Sudbury Fire Services and Greater Sudbury Paramedic Services are minimizing delays during the temporary closure, Oshell said the four-person fire crew has been instructed to maintain a presence in the area of Station 3 as much as possible, whether that is to pick up supplies, conduct training or perform pre-planning duties.
As well, during the temporary closure back in January, Station 3 paramedics were instructed to roam in the area to ensure prompt response.
The Station 3 response area runs south to Barrydowne/Hawthorne, east to Falconbridge Road, north to Maley Drive and west to Val Caron and south along Notre Dame Avenue to Pioneer Manor (incidents in the area of the Manor would also see the downtown station dispatched, Oshell added).
With Station 3 sharing space at Station 2 in Minnow Lake, response times are only slightly impacted in responding to the residential parts of the Station 3 coverage area, Oshell said. He said it is also important to remember that multiple stations are dispatched to emergencies as needed.
When asked about the 10-minute delay the association referred to, Oshell said the most potentially significant delay applies to the extreme western edge of the Station 3 response area, which is in the area of Tracks and Wheels on Old Highway 69 in Val Caron and is not a residential area.
In this area, Greater Sudbury Fire Services would be responding to motor vehicle collisions for the most part, not residential fires which often require a quicker response from fire services due to the nature of the emergency, Oshell said.
Oshell also said while there is potential for a 10-minute delay to the Tracks and Wheels area, he characterized that possibility as extreme.
Mark Gentili is the editor of Sudbury.com.
