Yonkers residents concerned after firehouse relocates

YONKERS (WABC) -- The last thing that anyone wants to hear is that their local firehouse is closing down, but that is exactly what is happening to a fire station in Yonkers that is home to two companies.

Fire Station 1 in downtown Yonkers has been around for 85 years, serving and protecting the area. On Friday, the city closed the historic building, and moved both fire companies to other locations, all because of concerns about the structural integrity of the building.

Eyewitness News is told that years of water damage and neglect have left the bricks on top dangerously compromised. City inspectors will need to determine if the building can be repaired; if they have the money to do it, or if it needs to be condemned.

Meanwhile, two fire companies have now been temporarily relocated to other firehouses in Yonkers, leaving a hole in this specific location.

Yonkers Fire Commissioner Jim Darcy insists that the fire response time will not be severely delayed.

"It may increase the response time in one part of the district, but it is going to decrease the response time in other parts of the first two districts, so really, the net is going to be zero," said Commissioner Darcy.

Eyewitness News reached out to the mayor on Sunday for comment, but there has been no response, and no word on future plans for the building. Meanwhile, the companies were moved to much smaller houses, which really cannot accommodate two companies.