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New fire station in North Port
One of the fastest growing areas in Sarasota County is getting a new fire station. FOX 13's Kimberly Kuizon reports.
NORTH PORT, Fla. - North Port Fire Rescue has opened Fire Station 87 in the Wellen Park community to keep pace with rapid local growth and improve emergency response times, city officials said.
New North Port fire station opens
The backstory:
Station 87 sits in the Wellen Park neighborhood of North Port to get ahead of rapid local growth. The area continues to see increased development, including thousands of new homes along with shopping and dining businesses.
Crews began working out of the facility during the summer. The $10.2 million project was a partnership between the city of North Port and Wellen Park, with all funding provided by the developer. Wellen Park will be reimbursed through impact fees as they're collected in the community.
"They came in with their vision of what they wanted to do over a number of years. From the very beginning and the inception, we started having these conversations with Mattamy Homes. We talked about the importance of staying abreast of the growth and look how it will develop, so we can address the needs as it came into, and so we didn’t stress the rest of the system in [the] city proper as the area grew," North Port Fire Chief Scott Titus said.
North Port Fire Rescue ISO rating
Why you should care:
Faster response times ensure quicker help during emergencies across the growing community. Additionally, North Port Fire Rescue recently learned it received a top ISO fire rating.
The ISO rating calculates how well-equipped departments are to put out fires, measuring factors from dispatch to utilities.
Titus called the rating a testament to everyone providing service for the community.
Chief Titus on department growth
What they're saying:
"North Port currently operates seven fire stations. Every new iteration incorporates updated recommendations from the National Fire Protection Association and internal staff feedback to boost safety," Titus said. "What I love is every time we do a fire station we get feedback from our personnel and then the national fire protection association. Every number of years, they put out recommendations of what we should have for apparatus and stations for safety concerns, and we address those as we build them. Every iteration of every station is better. As far as how the floor is as well as getting out to the bay, the station life and availability, all that has consistently gotten better and better."
Beyond the new Wellen Park location, the city has been working to rebuild Fire Station 81. That facility houses the department's administrative staff.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from FOX 13 reporter Kimberly Kuizon, who reported from North Port, as well as an interview with North Port Fire Chief Scott Titus.