This is a 3-alarm mess.
Struggling firefighters in Queens are waging a constant battle of collapsed ceilings, leaky roofs, mold plagues and other concerning conditions in their very own firehouses.
The Post toured three of the FDNY’s decrepit beachfront stations in The Rockaways Friday — each of which are in such severe states that they could collapse any moment, officials warn.
The firehouses — including one that stands on stilts and suffers “waterfalls” every time it rains — would need millions of dollars to be brought up to safety, but the nightmare of getting the money past bureaucratic red tape is forcing firefighters to deal with the mayhem between emergency runs.
“I just can’t imagine how the firefighters operate out of this house,” City Councilmember Joann Ariola said outside of Far Rockaway’s “The Big House,” which looks like it hasn’t received any upkeep since it was built in 1913.
“It’s hindering their jobs and hindering their health, and this would never pass muster if the health department or the DOB came into any other facility. They would close it down if they saw the condition. And yet our firehouses are deteriorating and continue to be open.”
A $5 million plan to upgrade the Central Avenue firehouse, which contains Engine 328, 264 and Ladder 134, has been stuck in limbo since Ariola and councilmember Selvena Brooks-Powers secured the cash last year because of the building’s landmark status — which forces the project to go through the landmarks commission before any work can be done.
The firehouse suffers “absolute waterfalls from the parapet” every time it rains, forcing the firefighters to constantly mop up their floors.
The water damage and peeling paint are so severe that the firefighters renovate their bathroom at least once per year, according to Ariola, a Republican whose district covers the three houses.
The firehouse itself has been supported by “stilts,” or braces, in the basement for the past 26 years during a floor replacement project that Ariola worries could give out.
The longer the project crawls through the process, the higher the chances are that the costs will surge and no longer cover the extensive damage at the Big House.
FDNY unions have been sounding the alarm on the rapidly declining state of firehouses throughout the five boroughs for years — and the Big House’s nautical neighbors are not faring much better.
Firefighters at Engine Company 329 near Fort Tilden were forced to duct tape a tarp to the windows because they don’t even have cash for blinds, with FDNY reps saying the 65-year-old house “probably hasn’t gotten an upgrade ever.”
That engine has been patiently waiting for a $2.6 million investment to remedy the damage that Hurricane Sandy ushered in more than a decade ago, which will be used to cover a total rehab of the interior and mold remediation, as well as a “complete waterproofing,” roof replacement and parapet wall rebuild.
Similarly, Far Rockaway’s Engine 266 has never seen repairs on its roof since it was built in 1922 and has not had any major fixes since the pandemic.
The firehouse has a massive hole under the jacket closet after part of the ceiling collapsed — with the heavy rubble landing just a foot away from an on-duty firefighter.
The decline of the three Rockaway houses isn’t being accelerated by the salty beach conditions, according to Ariola — they are simply a victim of “neglect.”
“We invest no money at all into the physical infrastructure of these buildings, ever,” Ariola said from the inside of the distubing firehouses.
The city councilmember plans to pressure City Hall at Monday’s executive budget hearing for the fire department to allocate the appropriate funds on a faster timeline.
The necessary cash should be reallocated from the robodogs and drones that she says is currently being made a priority.
“This is what we’re going to be asking the mayor for: the money necessary to fix these [fire] houses that have terrible physical infrastructure that are dangerous,” she told The Post.
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