Fire Station 5, at 9th Street and Quindaro Boulevard — just north of downtown Kansas City, Kansas — was built in 1955. The kitchen, where 24 firefighters eat, still looks like it’s right out of the 1950s, but with battered cabinets and missing drawers.

"The conditions are a concern," Fire Chief Dennis Rubin told the Unified Government Commission on Thursday night. "The goal is that we have safe, clean and comfortable workplaces."

For two years, the Fire Department and the International Association of Firefighters Local No. 64 worked together on a master plan that was presented.

They are concerned about the physical condition of the city’s firehouses. Ten are in “deplorable” condition, six are rated “poor,” and only two are acceptable, according to the report. The 101-year-old Fire Station 11, at 31st Street and State Avenue, was rated deplorable.

The plan calls for replacing three fire stations and renovating three more “as soon as funding allows.” Station 11 is not among them.

At the top of the replacement list are three stations that were built for volunteer fire companies but absorbed into the city when Kansas City, Kansas, annexed the land.

Most of the commission had no problem with replacing and remodeling firehouses, and the long list of other things Rubin said the department needs.

But commissioners scolded the chief because Rubin said he had no idea what the list would cost.

"I'm very disappointed in your response that you feel it wasn't necessary for us to get numbers," Commissioner Christian Ramirez said.

He accused Rubin of looking for a "blank check," and reminded him the UG passed a revenue-neutral budget this year and he said nobody knows exactly how that is going to work out.

Funding was always going to be an issue . The Unified Government did not raise taxes this year and is trying to reduce how much it spends on debt service. Currently, 44% of the budget goes towards debt. The goal is 25%.

But facilities are just one of the issues facing the KCKFD. The department and union say more staff is needed.

Currently, only three firefighters are assigned to most pumper trucks. The National Fire Protection Association says there should be a minimum of four. The report says that adding one additional firefighter per pumper improves efficiency by 25%.

The report also says that many fire companies fall short of meeting response time standards. One pumper company in the western part of the city missed its response time goal of four minutes almost half the time.

The master plan also says the department’s vehicle fleet is aging. It wants to accelerate replacement by buying three new pumpers, one brush fire truck, one specialized apparatus, such as a ladder truck or hazardous materials unit, and two ambulances over a two-year period.

Even though the department and Local 64 worked together on the master plan, the union did not present its views on the document Thursday. That will be scheduled at a future UG meeting where, some commissioner said, they expect the union to diverge from the department on some issues.