Temporary Certificate of Occupancy Issued for Firehouse

After years spent working out of trailers along Sloan Street, South Orange firefighters may be returning to the firehouse by next week.

A temporary certificate of occupancy was issued by the Village's building department late Thursday afternoon after the fire alarm system passed inspection, and Chief Jeff Markey says he's hopeful that the department can be moved in next week, assuming that some loose ends—like coordinating with the IT department to ensure that firefighters can be logged into the computer system—can be tied up.

Furniture is already in place, and phones, computers and radios are up and running, Markey said. Though the building has been inspected for health and safety issues, the contractor, Parikh Construction, still has work to do on the site, including corrective work that wasn't done to an acceptable standard the first time around. "They'll have to work around us, and we'll have to work around them," Markey said.

The firefighters last occupied the firehouse in April 2002, and Markey commended his department for maintaining the same level of service while in a state of limbo. "The morale is picking up fast," he said. "My hat's off to them with what they've had to put up with."