The Honolulu Fire Station’s Makiki Station will be stay relocated to another fire house for the next three to four weeks while crews remove flooring that contains asbestos, city officials said today.

Apparatus and crew from the station were moved March 16 to the Central Fire Station near Fort Street Mall as a precautionary measure after an inspection by a city Department of Design and Construction crew that day discovered tile flooring contained asbestos, said city spokesman Andrew Pereira.

HFD service to the Makiki area will continue to meet fire service industry standards and community expectations, Pereira said. HFD’s Fire Communications Center will use its Computer Aided Dispatch System to send the nearest fire crew to any emergencies in the Makiki area in the interim, he said.

The flooring needs to be replaced due to severe damage, Pereira said. Test samples of air and dust inside the station showed negative for the release of asbestos, Pereira said. But the relocation continued as a precaution.

The Makiki station is at Piikoi Street and Wilder Avenue while the Central Station is about two miles away at Fort and South Beretania streets.

The Honolulu Fire Department’s Fire Communications Center will utilize its Computer Aided Dispatch System to send the nearest fire company to any emergencies in the Makiki area. HFD’s service to the Makiki area will continue to meet fire service industry standards and community expectations.

Installation of the new flooring is expected to run three to four weeks, at which time the Makiki fire crew will return, Pereira said.