It may take a little longer for an ambulance to arrive at night if you live in or around Andrews because of a mold problem in the town’s EMS station.

According to a county worker who did not want to be named, the EMS station is out-of-service from 8:30 p.m. until 8 a.m. daily because of the severity of the mold.

The worker said the black mold, which can be seen in the vents of the building, measured at 4600 spores per cubic meter.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, anything about 900 spores per cubic meter is considered unsafe

Because of the problem, after 8:30 p.m., ambulances are dispatched from the Nine Mile Curve station, which could add  response time for anyone in the Andrews area.

Georgetown County Fire and EMS Assistant Chief Tony Hucks said the change should only add about seven minutes to the response time and it is only during the overnight hours.

He said the Andrews station is safe to use during the day because the doors are open often and the windows can remain open.

He said there are many nights there are no calls at all which, on those nights, personnel would be in the closed up building with the mold.

No decision has been made about what to do about the mold situation.

“We are still trying to figure out what would be faster and what would be the most cost effective,” Hucks said.

He also said he does not want to speculate how long it will take for the problem to be solved because a lot hinges on what funding can be received from the county.

“We are doing the best we can to remedy the situation and keep our guys safe as well as provide service to Andrews,” Hucks said.

By Scott Harper

sharper@gtowntimes.com