Waterford — The Cohanzie Fire Department building damaged when a town firefighter backed a firetruck into it is structurally sound, the town’s building official said, though a brick column will need to be replaced.

“The building is OK,” building official Frank Hoagland said Thursday, two days after a firefighter hit the column with the back of the truck while refueling the department’s tower ladder truck.

Hoagland said the department shouldn’t use one of the bays next to the damaged column until the repairs have been made.

“The other bays are OK, for the time being,” he said.

The column, which holds up a steel beam in the building’s ceiling, has been shored up with additional supports, Hoagland said.

The firetruck, which sustained damage to its bucket, a pipe and a nozzle attachment, has been sent for repairs to a Sutphen Corp.-authorized facility.

Waterford First Selectman Daniel Steward said the Connecticut Interlocal Risk Management Agency, the town’s municipal insurer, will appraise the damage to the building and the truck and cover the cost of both.

Following town policy, the driver, Mark Parker, will be required to take a defensive driving course, Steward said.

Steward said while the damage to the building was serious, accidents involving town vehicles happen occasionally, and the town has a standard procedure for addressing it.

"We don’t want it to happen, but it does happen," he said. "Anytime there’s an accident, the driver has to go to training."

m.shanahan@theday.com