Rodent infestation forces evacuation of Riverside South fire station

A rodent infestationforced fire crews from station 37 in Riverside South to be reassigned to other stations on Sunday.

"It's something that needs to be dealt with effectively and as quickly as possible," said Ottawa Fire Service district chief Dean Taylor.

Up to 30 rats had been counted and they had made their way into the walls of the station,said Victor Dillabaugh, a health and safety representative from the Ottawa Professional Firefighters Association.

"In consultation with the on-duty platoon chief, safety officer, city building reps and others, the decision was made to close the station."

The fire station isworking with exterminators to address the problem.

"The exterminator said they'll be a lot more successful if they actually remove the rats in a quiet environment as opposed to a noisy environment,"said KimAyotte, deputy chief ofOttawa FireServices.

They hope to resume regular operations at the station later today or early tomorrow morning, said Ayotte.

Fire services will continue while the extermination effort takes place.

Fire officials said it is not a public safety issue and assure that area coverage will not be affected.

Crews from the Riverside South station have been redeployed to station 44 and 47in Barrhaven and station 32on Leitrim Road.