29-05-2025
Lockport looking into new sites for fire headquarters
City officials are in the early stages of possibly providing a new home for the Lockport Fire Department.
The city published a request for proposals last week for an engineering feasibility study to evaluate a building for purchase as headquarters for the fire department. Fire Chief Luca Quagliano said he has identified a centrally located building in the city that could also provide space for another department.
Quagliano said city hall was not designed to house a fire department, and the current location on two floors with limited garage and storage space impacts nearly every aspect of the fire department's routine operations.
'Chief Quagliano is looking for other options,' said Mayor John Lombardi III. 'Let's see what it would cost to build a facility out. We can see if we could move forward from there.'
Common Council President Kathryn Fogle, who represents the 4th Ward, said was in favor of the RFP but is concerned about the costs of purchasing an additional city building. Fogle said she is waiting to see what additional information can be provided by the mayor's team.
The fire department's current location has five garage bays, but Quagliano said only one bay can fit two ambulances back to back, and none can fit two fire trucks.
That has left the fire department keeping its reserve engine, an ambulance, extra equipment and supplies at Outwater Park.
This includes the department's oxygen generator that provides the oxygen supply to the ambulance. Quagliano said staff need to go to the park three times a week to refill the onboard oxygen.
'Whenever there's a fire that goes to a second alarm, we have to go over there,' he said.
Over time, ambulances and fire engines have become larger, Quagliano said. Now, 'you can't open the doors on the fire trucks without hitting a column.' The city hall location also offers limited pavement space to perform maintenance on vehicles, he said.
'The ramp down to the road beats the hell out of the trucks because it twists the chassis.'
Staff spaces are also problematic, Quagliano said. Currently, responders' living quarters are on the second floor above the garage.
'There should be a formal separation between living quarters and apparatus, but now there's an open stairway,' he said.
This allows diesel fumes to reach firefighters for extended periods. According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, diesel exhaust is a cause of cancer in humans.
The department has a vent system, Quagliano said. 'It's done by hoses and if the hose rips, you expel diesel particulate throughout the building.'
Firefighters are also exposed to cancer-causing substances when fighting fires. Modern buildings contain PVC, foam, and treated fabrics. According to the website FireRescue1, 'Fires now release carcinogenic compounds like benzene, hydrogen cyanide and formaldehyde.'
To address this, firefighters need to decontaminate by removing soot, smoke particles, and toxins from themselves and their gear after a fire or incident with hazardous materials.
City hall does not accommodate this need, Quagliano said. 'There's no decon rooms — that's another push in the industry with all the cancer awareness.'
A new building would also solve the problem of no women's restroom or living quarters at the current building.
'They have to lock themselves in the existing bathroom after they knock,' he said.
Margaret Lupo, 5th Ward alderman, had heard Quagliano's concerns during a presentation to the council.
'City hall is kind of outdated,' Lupo said. 'But I want the big picture scenario from the mayor, which we don't have.'
Lupo said space vacated by the fire department could be used by court personnel.
'We need room for the courts,' she said. 'The mayor should have a plan for what the future looks like — like who moves where. It's the very beginning phase.'
