Glen Iris fire station to be razed, MFB confirm, with structural problems too bad to be fixed

A BUNGLED $5.5 million fire station in Glen Iris that’s never been used due to structural faults is now being completely demolished.

Firefighters Dominic Britt, Afonso Lai and Frank Howell outside the station to be razed. Picture: Paul Loughnan

• The fire station that can’t house a truck
• Demolition of unused fire station begins

A BUNGLED $5.5 million fire station in Glen Iris that’s never been used due to structural faults is being completely demolished, with a top firefighter saying the problems are worse than first thought.

And other fire stations across Melbourne are now being inspected for faults after it was revealed they were constructed by the same builders.

Last year the Leader revealed the new fire station at 1721 Malvern Rd built in 2015 failed to open as expected, due to a design fault that meant it was incapable of housing a fire truck.

Repair works worth millions of dollars were ordered to fix the mess, and the station was slated to open this year.

But last week deputy chief officer for south eastern metro Alan Quinton said inspections had revealed further problems, and the MFB now believed the station won’t be completed until July 2018.

“As it was explained to me, the engineer said some of these structures wouldn’t have stood up in a strong storm,” Mr Quinton said.

Pictures seen by the Leader show large cracks in the station’s walls, honeycombed concrete, rusted reinforcing, and foundation piles that were metres too short.

Firefighters will be forced to operate from their old headquarters at Waverley Rd Malvern East, while the rebuild is underway.

And the MFB launched legal proceedings against the builder last year to recover costs for fixing the station.

Mr Quinton stressed community safety was a top priority, and wouldn’t be compromised while construction was underway.

“We’ve been operating out of this (Waverley Rd) station for 28 or 29 years, so there’ll be no change to response times (to emergencies),” he said.

“MFB is as disappointed as local residents regarding the delays and issues. (But)...we need to be confident in the integrity of our fire stations.”

United Firefighters Union secretary Peter Marshall said the debacle demonstrated the “sheer incompetence” of the MFB.

“This is a public institution that is charged with protecting life and property and ensuring the safety of the residents in their fire district,” he said.

“It certainly illustrates the mismanagement of the fire services.”

Mr Quinton said the MFB was “as disappointed as local residents regarding the delays and issues with the build of the Glen Iris Fire Station”.