Charleston - Huntington, West Virginia -- WOWK -- 13NewsCharleston firefighters concerned about hazards at fire stations

Charleston firefighters concerned about hazards at fire stations

Several Charleston firefighters met with the Assistant Chief for Operations Friday, airing gripes about the condition of some of the city's most dilapidated fire stations.

The site for the meeting was Station 6 in Kanawha City, which was built in 1939 and suffers from a variety of issues.

Most visible to a visitor are the big spots in the kitchen floor, worn through two layers of tile to the underlayment. Firefighters are worried about one of those layers, because they believe its made of asbestos -- a common building material years ago -- that can be a cancer-causer of broken or disturbed.

Then there's the basement, which firefighters say is often fouled when the sewer backs up. The laundry and workout room are in the basement.

And, they contend, the special exhaust system that hooks to the truck exhaust pipes inside the garage is broken as often as it works.

Chief Charles Overstreet told 13 News he had no knowledge of any asbestos-related issues at Station 6. And Overstreet said, "There are processes to get things repaired." He said it's not clear whether firefighters have reported maintenance issues through the proper channels.