GOSHEN, Ohio — Rebuild, or level it and start over.
Those are the two options offered by Goshen Township Administrator Steve Pegram after the fire department suffered significant damage following Wednesday’s tornado.
“The collapse of the exterior wall, interior ceilings have come down, damage to all the utilities — gas, electric, phone, cable, internet," Pegram said. "Everything has damage inside the building."
One structural engineer has already taken a look at the damage. That engineer was concerned about the structural integrity of the building. A second structural engineer will provide a report on Friday.
Pegram said the portion of the fire department which has collapsed will have to come down.
“The concern with the structural engineers is that when you start taking that part of the building down, you lose support for the part of the building that’s okay," Pegram said.
The engineers, county building department, fire chief and insurance representatives will ultimately come to a conclusion for the future of the headquarters location.
As of Thursday, Pegram said the department has salvaged what they could inside of the building. Ultimately, moving that equipment to the nearby township administration building.
“We have enough office space, locker rooms," he said. "We have a makeshift kitchen in the basement. We’ll move some of the Fire/EMS people there so we have a response presence in this part of the township. Then we’ll move the rest of our apparatus and person out to our second firehouse on State Route 48."
Pegram said their plan is to have an ambulance and a smaller SUV available to provide support for emergency calls in that portion of town.
“The community should know we’re fully staffed," Pegram said. "We actually have extra people in. We have a presence on this campus, and a fire and EMS station on Route 48."
Pegram said he’s appreciative of the support from local agencies. He said they’ve had first responders from Hamilton County, Warren County and Brown County in the township to provide assistance where needed.
“It’s amazing to me how cleaned up it already is. I know we have a long way to go. A lot of people lost homes. Businesses lost buildings. That’ll be a difficult loss for the community. It’ll take a long time to fully recover,” said Pegram. “Be patient. We’re working — working through the night.”
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