HENRY COUNTY, Ga. — A fire station in Henry County is closing until further notice.
Station 5 in Hampton was evacuated after officials determined the building was unsafe.
Henry Country officials said the station has some structural issues and is no longer safe to respond to calls from the location.
“This is a structural concern that we have with that building and we are looking at how we can make those repairs,” said Shanan Sagnot, Henry County administrator.
Officials said Station 5 on Elm Street is one of their older locations, housing two trucks and at least five first responders at all times. But officials said the condition of the building has become a threat to the health and well-being of their crews.
The station is very close to some of the neighbors on the street. Firefighters wouldn’t even have to drive the truck out of the driveway when responding to homes on Elm Street.
“The signs went up today because I was walking yesterday and they weren’t here,” said Wendy Maholic, a neighbor.
The empty building is now surrounded by signs letting neighbors know that crews will temporarily be dispatching from fire station 15, which is about a 10-minute drive for folks in the neighborhood.
“It says they moved to Mt. Carmel Road, probably six miles,” said Maholic.
County officials said there is a plan to make sure this does not impact the amount of time it takes to respond to a call.
“We will be sending our crews from multiple locations so that way we are keeping our response times down,” said Sagnot.
Even though the building is unsafe, it’s not a danger to anyone who may be walking in the area.