Braces have been installed in the front doors at the Kewanee Fire Department’s Engine House No. 2, and likely will remain there until the fall.
Fire Chief Stephen Welgat said the department’s aerial ladder truck is housed in Engine House No. 2, and it was being backed into place when a handle on the side of the truck struck a beam that supports the roof of the station.
“It was obviously very weak,” Welgat said.
He said the bracing was installed, and a structural engineer certified that the building is safe for occupancy. But no vehicles are being stored in the area, he said.
Welgat is scheduled to report to the City Council on the situation at tonight’s meeting,
In a memo to the City Council ahead of the meeting, City Manager Gary Bradley wrote that requests for proposals are due July 12 from contractors for repairing the building.
“We expect the contract to be awarded at the July 22 meeting, with completion in late September or early October, depending on lead times for materials,” Bradley wrote.
