Ridgeville fire station condemned

It was no secret that the aged building housing Ridgeville Volunteer Fire Department Station No. 1 was not in the greatest shape.

But it still came as a surprise to Mayor James Williams when the 146 Church St. building was condemned and the firefighters who worked out of the building, and their vehicles and equipment, had to suddenly find other accommodations.

"The building is dilapidated, the roof is in disrepair and there's a lot of mold in the building. It's been condemned and we have about three months to tear it down," Williams said Monday.

Fire Chief Herbert Cummings said the building was condemned on Thursday by the Dorchester County Code Enforcement office. He said the building has cracks in walls so large "you can look at the wall and see the others side."

Firefighters did not man Station 1 around the clock and the building was not used for overnight stays, Cummings said. He said some firefighting equipment has been put in storage in a shed behind the station, and vehicles — including a fire truck, a rescue van and an "antique" firefighting vehicle used in parades — were moved Monday to Fire Station No. 2, about a mile away on Ridge Road.

Relocating firefighters and equipment is a short-term solution that Williams said will maintain fire protection for the central Dorchester County town. He said the only long-term solution — building a new fire station at a cost of about $300,000 — won't be easy because the small town's finances don't provide for capital improvement projects.

"We have been trying to get a grant to replace that building, and we've been trying to save some money. But we've never had the money to put away for capital expenses," Williams said.

Cummings said he has tried for years to get the town to maintain and repair the building. He said a new station could be built for $200,000, and he doesn't believe the town lacks the money for a new building.

"They should have some money. They sure didn't spend it on us," he said.

No one from code enforcement returned calls Monday.

Williams predicted the town, which has about 600 residents not counting the 1,100 state-managed inmates at MacDougall Correctional Institution, will grow rapidly in the near future. That makes it imperative that the fire station be replaced with a top-notch facility, he said.

"We need a nice station that has room for the new types of fire trucks that they build now, and space for an office and bunk beds. We are thinking about the future, not about the now," he said.