A Calgary fire hall that was closed last July because of health concerns will not re-open, which has the firefighters' union worried about response times.

The fire department shut down the fire hall at the south end of the airport — station #27 at 320 Aviation Way — because of elevated levels of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide.

For safety reasons, the captain, three firefighters and pumper truck were moved to Station 13 at 78 Avenue N.E., which is near the terminal at the north end of the airport.

Fire Chief Bruce Burrell said there is no point re-opening the station because a new #27 station will be built in a couple of years north of the airport.

"I know the airport authority has taken the remedial action for the structure, but we've made the move and we don't want to move back and forth," he said.

"We've done all our response times. We're happy with where it is as an interim measure."

Union worried about south end of airport

The head of the firefighters' union, Mark Faires, said he is concerned the closure will mean longer response times at the south end of the airport.

"Response times almost certainly … have been affected. To what extent and whether or not, it's left us in an inadequate situation. I think those numbers will reveal themselves in time."

As for whether the air problems in Station 27 were a health risk, Faires said the union wasn't given any test results.

The closed firehall, which was built in 1962, has now been turned over to the airport authority, which says it has fixed the ventilation problem.

The contaminated air may have been caused by aircraft which taxi near the building, along with ventilation problems, according to the fire department.

Calgary has 34 fire stations.