Newburgh's West End firehouse has reopened following a five-month hiatus.

The firehouse on Broadway is once again taking calls after asbestos shut it down in September.

Fire Chief Terry Ahlers say altogether, three walls had to be repaired.

All of the city's fire calls during that time were handled by Newburgh's main firehouse on Grand Street, which is minutes away from homes on the West End.

Ahlers says a fire doubles in size every 30 seconds, so those few minutes could mean a lot.

"When you're standing out in the middle of the night watching your home burn and the nearest fire truck is five, six, eight minutes away--that's a long time," he says.

The firehouse was built in 1867 and is still undergoing more work while it is open.