The roof at Cuyahoga Falls Fire Department’s Station 1 is being repaired and repairs are about to begin for the water-damaged part of the building, including the kitchen, in the aftermath of a severe thunderstorm May 25.
Lt. Scott Craig said a line of wind in the storm tore a portion of the roof off the station. “It was like a straight line going across to the east side,” Craig said.
Contractors said the wind peeled a large section of the roof and left it hanging over the rooftop access penthouse. “How this ripped off, this is probably being held by these (air conditioning) units,” contractor Drew Boothe said. “So that’s probably why it didn’t go any further.”
Cuyahoga Falls Fire Chief Paul Moledor said the total cost of the damage isn’t yet known. Most of the kitchen now fills a large trash bin outside the station, and two stoves that were ruined by the water sat nearby in garage space.
“The kitchen and the offices in back are all closed,” Moledor said. “But we’re making do, we’re making different amendments.”
They can’t really start renovating the damaged rooms until the roof is in and they get dried out. “It really depends on when the roofers get done doing their part, temporary patches are up there, stuff like that."
“There was a lot of other damage in the city,” Moledor said. “I don’t have a count as to how many (buildings) in the whole city were damaged. I’m not sure anybody knows that answer. I mean there were a lot of buildings with shingles blown off.”
Moledor said nobody was injured in the storm. “We checked houses, us and the police department, the electric department was out, everybody was out. It was bad but there were no direct injuries. A lot of inconveniences, like this.”