MISSOURI CITY, Texas --- Mold shuts down one fire station, disables another, and forces two cities to bridge any gaps in service.
There are no trucks and no firefighters in Missouri City station 4, just a sign that reads, "Temporarily closed for maintenance."
It’s been that way since the middle of October, and since then, all staff were moved about 7 minutes south to station 5.
What we now know is mold and mold spores were found in ceiling tiles, the shower, the vent backside and the laundry area.
A spokesperson with Missouri City says “given the serious nature of these findings and the City’s commitment to the health and well-being of our employees, staff was directed to immediately relocate the firefighters housed there and a corrective plan of action was implemented.”
Station 4 is located in the Sienna neighborhood and the idea was to have firefighters from station 5 assist in coverage.
In that same time, we find a more direct note outside station 5 in Sugar Land.
More mold, but at least here, the city of Sugar Land says firefighters will stay put and use portables to sleep in.
We drove to station 5 and couldn’t find any portables but did find firefighters using fans to air out soaked furniture.
Both cities say response times haven’t changed, but you do the math. With the centermost building out of service, the others have to meet half way to serve Riverstone and Sienna neighborhoods, and that takes time.
“It will be an issue. It will for sure be an issue. So we’re concerned about that,” said Pious Lukose of Sugar Land.
Even if it’s just the possibility of a delay, people stuck in the middle, don’t want to be left out.
“Definitely bothers me if they cannot make it on time,” said Hammad Zaldi of Sugar Land.
Missouri City says station 4 should be back up and running by the end of November, as they insist both stations 4 and 5 are covering the areas assigned.
In the three weeks that doors have been closed at station 4, they say they haven’t had any complaints about response times.
Sugar Land officials agreed to offer a full statement, but could not find someone to respond on camera.