With summer temperatures, crowds and vendors just outside the doors of the Surf City Firehouse for the weekly farmers market on Monday, the inside was a quiet contrast as workers hung gear racks for the firefighters six months after a fire broke out in the southwest corner of the building, causing extensive smoke damage.

The December 2022 fire was discovered by a volunteer firefighter who heard the siren send out a steady blast, a programmed indicator that the alarm inside the firehouse was…