CLEVELAND — It's hot outside, but inside Cleveland Fire Station 36, it's even toastier.
Association of Cleveland Firefighters IAFF Local 93 president Jake Konys told me Station 36 has been without a working HVAC system for at least three weeks.
"Our fire crews at Station 36 have been dealing with no HVAC, no air conditioning for, well, it's been all summer, but really the crucial last three weeks when the temperatures started to spike as we get into the summer months, it's been untenable," Konys said.
Konys described the inside of the fire station as muggy.
On Saturday, he said he gauged the temperature inside the fire station. The temperature read as 89.7 degrees.
"It's truly a safety risk to our men and women out there on the street. They have to be ready to respond to an emergency, run into a burning building, and if they don't have a station [where] they can re-hydrate, lower that core body temperature, it truly is putting them at risk. It's not only putting them at risk, but it's putting the neighborhoods at risk," Konys said. "It's just the basics. It's not much to ask for, to make sure that our stations are cool, dry and safe. We've got poor air quality from the wildfires up in Canada. I believe City Hall, they were all sent home on Friday due to exterior air quality. Yet our crews that are responding to emergencies every day, night and day, they're sitting through these temperatures, and they're still doing their job."
Konys said a maintenance request was submitted to the city for a temporary commercial air conditioning unit until a permanent HVAC system is installed or repaired.
As of Monday, though, he said the association hadn't seen any movement.
Station 36's condition report from last year, provided to News 5 Cleveland by the association, shows the HVAC system has been deemed inadequate for some time.
"HVAC control system needs to be installed. Building occupants have no control over heating and cooling operation. No ability to moderate [temperature]. System operates in an on or off mode only leads to excessive temperature swings," the report reads.
The report also deems the condition of the roof, plumbing and electrical systems as poor.
"We can't wait anymore. We're not going to wait for something bad to happen. We need to act. We needed to act weeks ago, months ago. This system, like I said, it's 10 years old. It's been plagued with issues. The fire crews there, they don't even have the ability to adjust the thermostat. We're told this is a green energy system, a cost-saving system," Konys told me.
He also said, "We're always grateful when the city, you know, allocates the resources needed, that when the city council comes up and, you know, passes the legislation to ensure that the funds are allocated to get the renovations done, make sure these crews have what they need, but we have to hold not only the city accountable, but the contractors that are doing the work."
For now, Konys said firefighters at Station 36 are buying portable AC units with their own money. He said the city has also chipped in window units.
"They've sent those out several weeks ago, and it has not changed the temperature within the building," Konys said.
With the rising temperatures and concerns, I reached out to the city for answers on Monday.
City of Cleveland communications strategist Tyler Sinclair said the city understands the frustration this ordeal has caused and empathizes with the concerns raised, "but it’s important to note that these ongoing issues are certainly not due to our lack of effort in trying to fix the problem."
Our Property Management team completed work orders earlier this year related to HVAC issues at this facility – which shows that we’re not only aware of these issues, but it’s something we have been actively trying to fix. Our team responded to the facility again after receiving the most recent service request. Unfortunately that latest assessment revealed that the A/C issues persisted despite previous best efforts to resolve them, and it was determined that new parts and additional services from HVAC professionals were needed. We placed that order with our contractor last month and didn’t receive a proposal until just last week.
Sinclair said the city has since decided to work with the manufacturer directly, as it would save time, money and be more efficient.
He also told me the city has exhausted all of its in-house options at this point, so working directly with the manufacturer would be the best option moving forward.
The city received the manufacturer's proposal on Monday and is now moving forward on an agreement with it, Sinclair said.
"Their team of experts is conducting a comprehensive analysis to diagnose root causes contributing to these issues and will advise on next steps. Once we have that information, we’ll be sure to pass it along to the union and its members," Sinclair said via email.
Konys said he wishes a concrete plan had been devised sooner.
Konys is hoping to see tangible change in the coming days. If not, he said the association will regroup and figure out what comes next.
"We've got, you know, commercial buildings. We've got different facilities all over the city. There are equipment rental places. There's nothing stopping us, stopping the city of Cleveland from renting one of these commercial HVAC units, hooking it up, and ensuring that these firefighters have a cool, safe and dry place to work out of," Konys said. "You don't see us in the news every week. You rarely see us in the news addressing issues like this, but this is a serious issue, and it got to the point where I would be negligent if I didn't do anything. I would be negligent if I didn't respond and do what I can do to ensure that they're safe."
I'll Follow Through with the association later this week to see if there's a potential plan on the horizon now that the city is working on an agreement with the manufacturer.
