El Paso Fire Department EL PASO, Texas — One of the major costs of the fire at the historic John Wesley Hardin building on Thursday night could be the demolition and disposal of debris. If the demolition cost can't be recovered from the owner, the cost will fall on the City of El Paso.
"It's been many years since we've had a three-alarm fire in this city," said El Paso Fire Marshal Calvin Shanks. Shanks listed off a list of possible expenses associated with the fire. "We're looking at any water usage, we're talking fuel, any equipment that's damaged, lost or repaired," Shanks said.
Shanks said the main cost was manpower. "The biggest cost is having to bring in off-duty personnel," Shanks said. The Fire Department had to bring in around 40 off-duty firefighters on their overtime rate. Fire officials won't know the total cost of Thursday's fire but they compared it to a building fire in West El Paso that KFOX14 News reported on May 17, 2011.
According to our media partners, The El Paso Times, the city spent almost $200,000 after the May 17 fire on demolition and disposal. "This one's going to be higher than those," Shanks said. "That's all I can really tell you."If inspectors find the presence of asbestos inside the debris, the cost of demolition will go up even higher.