Public Works Director Mike Barton said this week he and other employees at the town’s Operations Center on Friendship Chapel Road are still assessing the damage done to the fleet maintenance garage from a fire the evening of Tuesday, Feb. 16. Purchasing Agent Randy Driver, working late, saw smoke and called 911.
Engine #1 from the main Wake Forest Fire Department station responded and found a working fire with smoke pouring from the building and fire in an office. The ladder engine crew had to force open the door because no one was in the garage at the time. Other units quickly followed including three Wake Forest fire engines, at least two Wake County EMS units, police units and assorted officials. The cause of the fire is still being investigated.
“We’re still in the process of determining what’s salvageable and what’s not,” Barton said about the damage estimate. Deputy Town Manager Roe O’Donnell said Tuesday night the garbage truck needs to be repainted as a result of the fire.
“We do have three bays just about ready to become usable,” Barton said Tuesday, ‘”and they are cleaning the remainder of the contests of the original shop to determine usability of the items/equipment.
“Fleet Maintenance averages about 200 maintenance-type repairs and 12 to 15 major repairs a month for all [town] vehicles and equipment.”
The question of whether the operations center will remain on Friendship Chapel Road or move to another location is still under scrutiny. The center is packed full and needs more land and more buildings, whether there or elsewhere. A consideration could be the future closing of the CSX railroad crossing on the road, which has no outlet at present. When Holding Village subdivision is fully built out, the operations center could be one of its closest neighbors. Barton said, “We are moving forward and hope to enter into negotiations soon with a vendor.”
