'You get used to the mold under the sink,' a Houston Fire Department senior captain told ABC13 during a tour of Fire Station 101. The issues have remained unfixed despite the city reaching a deal with the fire union.
But Eyewitness News just toured where the community's bravest slept."In the dorm, they had to put plywood down so the raccoons couldn't come in and sleep with the guys," Sr. Capt. Gabriel Luke from the Houston Fire Department said."We have sewage issues. I know you saw the portable water we have. Well, one of the residents actually got us water because we can't drink the water here," Luke said.
Station 101 was once for volunteer firefighters. When Houston annexed Kingwood in 1996, full-time Houston firefighters took over. But the facilities, in some cases, remained the same. "These stations were not built 30-plus years ago with the intent of having people here 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year," District Chief Christopher McAllister with HFD said.Former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner was never able to reach a contract agreement with the city's firefighters union, which left crewmembers without raises for years and stalled the department's recruitment and retention efforts.
"We are 500 firefighters short in the Houston Fire Department," Patrick "Marty" Lancton, the Houston Professional Firefighters Association president, said. "That's 500 firefighters less than what we had in 2010, and we're running nearly double, twice as many calls as today.""You get used to it. You get used to the mold under the sink," Luke said. "You get used to the sink not draining and having you pay for it. You get used to it.
Kingwood Fire Station 101 Hfd Houston Fire Department Mayor John Whitmire Houston Professional Firefighters Association Marty Lancton
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