Demolition of MI Fire Station Brings Back Memories for FFs

May 26—Monroe Fire Chief Rob Wight felt a pang of sadness on Monday as he drove down Scott Street and passed by the city's old Central Fire Station.

It was hard for Wight not to think of the 21 years he spent manning the now-defunct building, which crews from Salenbien Trucking and Excavating of Dundee began demolishing this week.

"It's kind of a sad moment actually, driving by it and seeing it like that," Wight said Tuesday. "...It served us well. It just wasn't able to serve us anymore I guess."

The demolition of the 53-year-old building is expected to be completed by the original target date of June 30, despite a delay that occurred when the original firm hired by the city to oversee the project suffered an outbreak of the coronavirus among its employees.

Monroe City Council hired Salenbien Trucking to handle the work instead. Patrick Lewis, the city's director of engineering and public services, says that the late start shouldn't delay the demolition much, if at all.

"Based on their progress, it looks very likely that they will make the original June 30 date," Lewis said. "I wouldn't be surprised to see it totally down by the end of next week. They are very capable of bringing a building this size down in that time frame."

But while the station itself will soon be gone, those who were stationed there won't soon forget what it was like to slide down the traditional fire poles as the deafening sound of alarm bells filled the air. Both the poles and alarms have been preserved, along with various signs and other mementos, with the intent to eventually put as much as possible on display for visitors at the city's new Central Fire Station at 911 E. Third St.

Even though the demolition only began Monday, Wight said that by Tuesday morning he'd already received several phone calls from retired city firefighters who had served at the station. The chief and others who are still serving in the department but have memories of the building are just as shocked as their retired peers to see the station finally torn down.

"We knew it was coming," Wight said. "But once it got here it was like 'wow, it's real.'"

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