Manteca once again has five fully staffed fire stations.

The Louise Avenue station west of Main Street reopened Tuesday after emergency repairs were completed to the roof.

City inspectors in mid-January shuttered the station after determining the station’s flat roof was in danger of failing.

Roughly 1,000 gallons of water remained on the roof weeks after the city received its last measurable rain.

The city, besides repairing the roof, installed a pump to help prevent rainwater from puddling in the future.

The fire department, after the station was temporarily closed,  moved the engine company to the Powers Avenue station and shifted the tiller truck with the 100-foot ladder to the Union Road Station.

Both a regular engine company and tiller truck were responding to emergency calls from the Union Road station that was designed to house six firefighters for the past two weeks.

The Louise Avenue station was completed in the 1980s and is the city’s second oldest after the Powers station that was built in the 1960s.

Starting a decade or so ago, various city fire chiefs during budget sessions brought up structural issues with both the Powers station — the oldest in the city — and the Louise Avenue station.

Repairs were repeatedly delayed due to a lack of money. Then, the city a few years back, was able to do needed work on the Powers station.

Other structural issues still exist at the Louise station that was also built to accommodate quarters for two firefighters and not three.

Manteca’s leaders are currently pursuing a much more pressing fire station need — building a sixth station to serve the rapidly growing southeast portion of the city.

It is needed to bring upwards of 3,000 homes to within the targeted five minute response time for emergency calls.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com