MOORESVILLE, Ind. (WISH) — The Madison Township Fire Department in Morgan County consolidated its equipment and crew after closing a 31-year-old fire station due to safety concerns.

Crumbling concrete, cramped living quarters, and poor ventilation prompted officials to close Station 831 at 10023 N. Kitchen Road. The station, a short drive south of the roundabout on State Road 144, was built in 1992.

Chief Anthony McClure said, “Over the years as the townships have grown, the demand of the fire emergency services has obviously increased as well, so we have had to increase our staffing,”

Staff and equipment from the old station are now being housed 5 miles north at the department’s only other station on 7047 E. Landersdale Road near Camby.

“Getting the firehouse up to code, getting the concrete fixed, stuff like that, are some of the major concerns that we will have to address right away before we can move staff back in,” McClure said.

In the meantime, McClure is working with surrounding departments to help provide service to the areas previously covered by the shuttered station house. “We are going to take necessary actions to get emergency responders there as quick as we can, whether they are coming from the north station or whether they are coming from one of our mutual aid partners.”

The Madison Township Fire Department serves 10,000 residents and growing. Since joining the department in 1995, McClure has seen a population boom putting extra pressure on his firefighting resources.

“The kids that live in the new addition of Heartland Crossing, most of those kids are bussed out to Waverly Elementary, so just with the school system, with the kids, with the population growth since ’95, it’s grown tremendously.”

McClure said the township is meeting with an engineer to determine how much repairs to the fire station will cost and when it will reopen.