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Tampa firefighters plead for new station
Downtown Tampa is booming and fire rescue crews say they won't be able to keep up with demand with their current resources.
TAMPA, Fla. - With outdated equipment and not enough fire engines to cover the city’s growth, Tampa Fire Rescue described their situation and concerns to the city council Thursday. The interim chief shared a master plan to fix problems now and in the future.
"The chief spoke briefly about where we’re lacking, but it’s a significant public health crisis where the fire department is overworked, overextended," said Guido Maniscalco, a Tampa councilman who represents District 6.
Tampa Firefighters Local 754 union president Joe Greco pleaded for action sooner rather than later.
"We’re tired of talking about it. Get the stations going," Greco stated.
Tampa Fire Rescue said they don’t have enough people or stations to keep up with growth. The fire union commissioned a study to find where new stations should immediately go, and Greco said he hopes the city uses the information to get moving.
"You don’t need a consultant to tell you you need a station in Channel District. You can just open your eyes and look up at that skyline as you’re traveling westbound on I-4 and look at where it starts now at 22nd Street all the way downtown," said Greco.
District 5 city councilman Orlando Gudes represents the Channelside area and he said bad planning let construction get that far without adding a station to the mix.
"So why are we not talking to those developers or those people who are putting those finances for these buildings and say how can we as a city partner with them to put a fire station underneath like other major cities have, can cut those costs tremendously and be able to have that growth management for our needs in the city," said Gudes.
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The future solutions will be expensive, and the city council said they can’t approve anything until the mayor’s office has a plan.
"I don’t want to nickel and dime the public. I want them to bring me back a plan that’s going to tell me what’s going to be our needs right now, what is a long-term need," Gudes explained.
The mayor's office told FOX 13 via email, "The administration is actively working to obtain and review a broad range of data needed for a comprehensive city-wide master plan. This assessment includes looking at the types, times, and frequency of transports across the board. The goal is to ensure we're meeting the needs of the entire community and implementing resources in the most equitable, efficient and effective manner possible."
The mayor’s office said Mayor Jane Castor supports the short-term requests to increase resources in East and North Tampa, in addition to budgeting for additional firefighter positions in fiscal year 2021.
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