The Rock Community Fire Protection District has temporarily closed House 4 at 3889 Miller Road southwest of Arnold because of mold issues, Chief Kevin Wingbermuehle said.
He said the house was closed Nov. 14, and the district is working with Wachter Construction of Arnold to evaluate how much remediation work is required at that house.
“We won’t have estimated start or completion dates until we are able to gather more information and coordinate resources,” Wingbermuehle said.
Crews typically stationed at House 4 will work out of House 5 at 3749 Telegraph Road in Arnold during the closure. House 5 is just less than 3 miles from House 4.
Wingbermuehle said the House 4 coverage area is along Old Lemay Ferry Road from Pomme Road to Seckman Road; along Seckman Road from Old Lemay Ferry Road to Prairie Hollow Road; along the West Outer Road from Vogel Road to Miller Road; and along Vogel Road from Richardson Road to Miller Road.
Rock Fire covers Arnold, Kimmswick and parts of Imperial and Barnhart. It has five houses, including two in Arnold, two in the Arnold area and one in Imperial.
“Response times will be impacted as fire stations are strategically placed for this purpose,” Wingbermuehle said. “However, our firefighters do a great job and will remain proactive in minimizing that impact as much as possible. We will always ensure the closest firetruck responds to an emergency.”
He said firefighters started seeing some surface mold around the House 4 ventilation ducts about a year ago.
Wingbermuehle said the district attempted to remove the mold but was unsuccessful.
He also said Rock Fire had an environmental consultant evaluate the extent of the problem and provide possible solutions.
“At this time, it is likely that HVAC units and some ductwork will have to be replaced as well as some drywall,” he said. “Once the affected areas are opened up, a certified company will perform the abatement to the environmental consultant’s satisfaction.”
Wingbermuehle said the house was closed because of health and safety concerns for the firefighters.
“While discussing this with the shop stewards, I was advised that firefighters were reporting that they were feeling ill when they worked at House 4,” he said.
This is the second time Rock Fire has temporarily closed a house because of mold issues.
House 3 at 3540 Lonedell Road west of Arnold was closed from Nov. 7, 2022, to Jan. 13 while mold was removed there.
Rock Fire paid Wachter $229,238 as the general contractor to oversee that mold remediation project, which included dry wall replacement, remodeling and electric and concrete work.
Other work
Rock Fire also recently hired H&G/Shultz Door of St. Louis to install multiple new doors and replace door hardware at House 3 and House 5.
The Board of Directors voted 2-0 on Nov. 9 to pay H&G about $8,600 for the work. Board member Dan Meyer was absent from the meeting.
On Nov. 13, Wingbermuehle said the work on the doors will take about a week to complete but a start date had not been set.
The houses will remain open while the door work is underway, Wingbermuehle said.
“These doors are getting to the point of being beyond repair,” he said. “We take pride in taking care of the community’s buildings and equipment, but some things are beyond our scope of expertise. The specialty work required for this project goes beyond our in-house capabilities.”