Engineer to assess Fire Station No. 1

The Idaho Falls Fire Department may not be getting their new fire station after all.

City council members say they want more information about the structural problems of two of the bays here at fire station, before possibly spending two to three million dollars on building a brand new station.

Back in January, cracks were discovered in the beam structures and floors of the two bays.
The issues forced the fire department to park their engines outside. The next step, according to Fire Chief Dean Ellis, is to have an engineer look assess how serious the damage is and determine how much the problems would cost to fix.

“It’ll be good to have an architectural engineering firm look at that, make core samples to make sure the floor is safe,” said Ellis.

Not only is it important for Fire Station No. 1 to be able to park their engines in these bays, but below the bays in the basement is where the firefighters live for their 24-hour day of work.

Ellis said it could take a month to find an engineer to assess the damage.