Fire Station No. 1 in Katy has temporarily closed due to mold, Mayor Bill Hastings confirmed.
Firefighters at Station No. 1, located at 1417 Ave. D, Katy, have been moved to safety after a local physician told Fire Chief Russel Wilson that everyone in the mold-infested building was in danger, Hastings said.“The social services senior center was originally designed as a backup for the fire department for Fire Station No. 1, so [Wilson] moved his staff out of the building and went to Stations No. 2 and 3," he said.
The fire station was temporarily closed in 2017 for the same issue while renovations were made, but more mold appeared this January.
“I think almost from the time it was built, they've had a problem with the roof leaking, and they've always fixed it,” Hastings said. “It was no big deal until recently. There was a high content of a pretty bad kind of mold in the south end of the building where the administrative offices are.”
Hastings said there will be a project manager handling the rebuilding of the fire station, which is estimated to cost about $500,000.
“This was not a budgeted item,” Hastings said. “With our sales tax revenue being so far off, it's taking us a while to figure out the funding.”
No timeline has been set for the project, but the tentative timeline once the project begins is three to four months, Hastings said.
“In the meantime, the guys over at the senior center have everything they need,” Hastings said.
