Pittsburgh closes firefighter training facility over coronavirus concerns

Pittsburgh on Tuesday temporarily closed its firefighter training academy after one of the instructors reported covid-19 symptoms, the city reported Wednesday.

Thirty-six recruits and instructors are now in quarantine, according to the city and Ralph Sicuro, president of International Association of Firefighters Local 1.

“This decision was made out of an abundance of caution after an instructor began to exhibit symptoms,” Department of Public Safety spokesman Chris Togneri said. “No one tested positive for coronavirus, and none of the recruits are showing symptoms.”

Sicuro said the employees would be in quarantine for 14 days, or until test results are known.

Togneri said the academy has been thoroughly cleaned daily. All academy personnel were required to undergo health screenings before entering the facility. Social distancing and mask use was mandatory and hand sanitizer was available.

“We will work with city Medical Director Dr. Ronald Roth to resume training as soon as it is deemed safe to do so,” he said.

The fire bureau to date has had five employees with confirmed cases of covid-19, three with presumed positive cases and five awaiting the result of testing, Sicuro said.

He said 95 of about 680 firefighters have been quarantined since the pandemic began.

“What we need desperately is to have quick access to testing that will give us quick results in order to get our people back to work as soon as possible,” Sicuro said. “I think there needs to be some prioritizing for people like first responders and people on the front lines who need to be at their jobs to protect the public.”