The city of Bixby broke ground Tuesday on a new fire station headquarters. Bixby’s Fire Station No. 1 will have over 29,000 square feet of new space, the city reported on social media.

A St. Petersburg man was charged with driving under the influence after he backed his car into a fire truck, deputies said, wfla.com reported.

According to an affidavit, a man identified as Timothy Gonzalez was spotted passed out behind the steering wheel of his vehicle around 5:15 p.m. Monday, the report said.

When Seminole Fire Rescue arrived at the scene, the report said Gonzalez woke up, placed his car in reverse and hit the fire truck. Gonzalez then reportedly placed his car in drive and came to a stop, according to the report.

According to the report, Gonzalez was unable to walk due to his level of intoxication and was taken to a hospital.

Brandon is booming. A community of over 116,000 residents and hundreds of businesses now has a new, modern fire station calling Central Brandon home, the city announced recently in a press release.

On Jan. 4, 2023, Hillsborough County commissioners, the county administrator, the chief of Hillsborough Fire Rescue, and Brandon community leaders ushered in the new station with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. This was the second ribbon cutting of the year. Relocated Station 29 in Apollo Beach was celebrated the day before.

The History

For decades, Brandon, the state’s largest unincorporated community, had one fire station to respond to emergencies, putting a strain on nearby stations and impacting response times.

In 2019, however, Hillsborough County Fire Rescue’s (HCFR) Capital Facilities Master Plan was updated. It called for 24 additional fire stations to meet the rapidly growing demands of Hillsborough. Given the need in Central Brandon, Fire Station 45 was at the top of the list.

For over two years, Station 45 personnel and apparatus served the community from a modular unit nearby. County administration saw the need for service was too great to wait until the station could be completed.

The Station

Station 45 is the first new HCFR station added since the department’s master plan was approved. Since staffing the new station, the engine at Station 45 has become among the five busiest trucks in Fire Rescue’s fleet.

Home to a fire engine, an ambulance, and five firefighters per shift, Station 45 operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in three shifts.

The Design

New Hillsborough County fire stations are designed with the well-being of first responders as a priority. Technological improvements include separate decontamination rooms, allowing firefighters to remove soiled protective gear contaminated during firefighting and other hazardous materials exposure.

The new stations contain specialized washing machines to remove particulate matter from protective equipment. Separate showers allow first responders to rid themselves of contaminants before such toxic substances can be introduced into the living spaces of the stations or their homes.

The need for social distancing, as reinforced during the COVID-19 pandemic, has driven the need to incorporate individualized sleeping quarter designs into these new facilities to allow this practice, when needed, to reduce the spread of airborne illnesses.

The Need for More

“The Master Plan calls for 24 new stations to keep pace with the growth of our county. These are the first two; we have 22 more to go,” stated Fire Chief Dennis Jones, who looks forward to more stations and first responders to answer the critical needs of Hillsborough County residents.

Reading City Council, at its Committee of the Whole meeting Tuesday, heard a request for funding three firefighting vehicles from the Reading Fire Department. The estimated cost: $3.5 million, wfmz.com reported.

The request is being made to replace three vehicles due to their age and costly maintenance and repairs, the report said.

A fire official said he was hoping the city would designate money from American Rescue Plan Act funds, according to the report.

A 16-year-old rescue truck, a 15-year-old pumper and a 14-year-old aerial ladder truck need to be replaced, the fire official said. He cited specific incidents when the vehicles broke down during use at emergency calls.

The wait time for the vehicles to be delivered would be anywhere from 18 months to two years, the report said.

There appears to be support for the request from the city council, the report said. A city official said in the past fire apparatus had always been purchased with a combination of capital funds and monies from the state’s Community Development Block Grant. The city official said that would still be the preferred method in order to not draw too much money from remaining ARPA funds.