Bridgeport firehouse completion delayed

JOHN BURGESON
04/21/2008 12:12:04 AM EDT

BRIDGEPORT — The days will turn sultry before the Ocean Terrace firehouse, closed since December, will return to full operation.

Fire Chief Brian Rooney said last week it won't be until July 17 that "Seven-Eleven" — so called because it houses Engine 7 and Ladder 11 — is back to normal.

The Fire Department had to close the station because the floor had settled 18 to 24 inches since it was constructed in the early 1970s — damaging the water and sewer lines that run under the structure's concrete floor. This necessitated complex and difficult repairs, which involve tearing up the concrete floor, replacing all the plumbing and pouring a new floor — without damaging the above-ground structure.

Rooney said the repair project had to be divided into two phases to permit Engine 7 to continue to be housed in the building.

The first phase is nearly complete. By the end of last week, concrete was being poured for the first half of the project, the chief said. "Mind you, the floor is still not put together yet," Rooney said. "On May 5 through May 9, we'll be getting ready to remove the other back half of the floor — the part at the back half of the firehouse." The Engine 7 firefighters since January have been living in a 60-foot trailer parked behind the fire station.

When both Engine 7 and Ladder 11 are posted there, there are eight to 10 firefighters on duty at any given time, Rooney said.

Initial estimates were that the station would be repaired by mid-May. However, the difficulty and complexity of tearing out thick, reinforced concrete — and replacing all of the subterranean plumbing — necessitated the two-month delay, Rooney said.

"We can't get the firefighters back in there until the floor is removed — because there is a lot of noise from all of the jackhammering — they wouldn't be able to hear their calls on the radio." The Ladder 11 fire crew has been reassigned to the Wood Avenue Fire Station, about a mile to the east, while the repairs take place.

About a week after Ocean Terrace closed in early December, a blaze swept through three homes on Fairfield Avenue — within sight of the closed station — killing three, including a toddler.

Some have blamed the deaths on the station's closure, owing to the longer response time to the fire scene from the Wood Avenue Fire Station — where both Engine 7 and Ladder 11 were based at the time. But city officials say that they had no choice but to close the station, which provides coverage for the city's West End and Black Rock neighborhoods, along with the P.T. Barnum Apartments public housing complex — one of the most densely populated areas of the city.

The cost of the new floor and plumbing is $500,000, Rooney said. This was paid by money from the State Bond Commission.

On Jan. 25, House Speaker James Amann, D-Milford, toured the station, its floor a jumble of dirt and broken concrete. Amann, along with state Rep. Robert Keeley, D-Bridgeport, held out the prospect that the Bond Commission might approve $3 million for an entirely new station. But, Rooney said, that money never materialized.