Firefighters allege mold, water leaks at Lancaster fire station

Raymond De Los Santos said the Lancaster Professional Firefighters Association has been going back and forth with city leaders since the end of March about mold and water leaks at a fire station.

"This is our second house. This is where we spend a third of our life," he said. "And these are the conditions that they're leaving us with."

De Los Santos is the president of the firefighters' union. He said one of his members came to him about the issue.

Firefighter reports rash and mold

"One member was developing a rash, and he had made a report through the city saying there's roof leaks when he went up there and observed mold," De Los Santos said. "There was mold growing inside the bathroom, on the doors."

He said he contacted Lancaster Fire Chief Kenneth Johnson and then began going up the chain of command to resolve the issue.

"I gave him 24 hours due to it being mold and the potential health effects that it could cause," he said. "This needed to be addressed quickly, and they may have been doing stuff behind the doors, but we needed to be updated on the status."

He said his member sent an email on March 29. By April 17, De Los Santos said leaders had notified firefighters that the mold test they ordered came back negative.

Union questions accuracy of city test

"There's visible mold in the station. How can you trust a company that's saying that there's no mold when you could see it with your eyes," he said.

Johnson ordered deep cleaning at a fire station, which De Los Santos described as dingy. He currently runs calls at Fire Station No. 2, but his recollection of Station No. 3 was that it was dingy and had a prior mold issue in 2018–19. He even recalled temporary trailers on the property for firefighters and paramedics.

De Los Santos said firefighters cleaned the baseboards, mopped around ice machines, and other areas as ordered. But they were puzzled how the city-ordered test still found microbial growth in the station.

Independent tests show elevated mold levels

The Firefighters Association said it paid nearly $1,300 for two independent tests that contradicted the city's test. The results of the April 14 test indicate elevated mold levels and an unacceptable work environment. De Los Santos said that after deep cleaning, the levels decreased but remained detectable.

CBS News Texas started contacting the city manager and communication leaders on Monday to gain clarity from the city. So far, they have not responded.

Monday was also when De Los Santos sent a detailed letter to City Manager Opal Mauldin-Jones, expressing concerns about leaks and mold.

Union calls for full remediation

"Fix all the water leaks, take out all the mold, enough to where you could get a test and be certain that there's no mold present in that station," he said.

He hopes the issues do not tank morale, cause health problems or impact those who want to work or continue working for the department.