TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa City leaders asked to see a comprehensive public safety plan from Tampa Fire Rescue. On Thursday, they got it, and most agreed it wasn’t pretty.
Equipment is aging, firefighters are overworked, and if Tampa doesn’t start building more fire stations right now, the union's president says the public will be in danger.
Interim Fire Chief Barbara Tripp laid out the troubling stats:
- Fire trucks and rescue units are being used well beyond their life expectancy.
- Workers are being pushed too hard.
- Communication equipment is lacking.
And despite enormous growth in areas like New Tampa, Midtown, Channelside and Water Street there are no concrete plans to add fire stations or personnel.
“It’s a significant public health crisis,” Councilman Guido Maniscalco said.
“With what the fire department has identified as an immediate need, immediate now, that’s $32 million right off the bat,” Tampa’s Chief Financial Officer Dennis Rogero added.
Council members said they’re committed to finding the money somewhere but questioned why more hadn’t been done before now, and why developers hadn’t been required to include public safety facilities in their plans.
“We need to be in discussion with some of these developers that are building now,” Councilman Orlando Gudes said. “We’ve got to be able to intertwine a program with them.”
Chief Tripp also suggested hiring a consultant who would spend the next three to six months pinpointing priorities.
But the firefighter’s union said they’d already done that work.
“You don’t need a consultant to tell you, you need a station in Channel District,” Union Chapter President Joseph Greco said. “You can just open your eyes and look up at that skyline as you’re traveling westbound on I-4.”
Singled out for immediate improvements was Fire Station 13, which is one of 23 fire stations in Tampa, but handles one in every seven calls.
“The statistics there are deplorable,” Councilman Luis Viera said. “They are a disgrace to us all.”
To relieve some of the pressure on station 13, Interim Chief Tripp recommended restoring the city’s old fire station 11, which is located nearby, to full service.
In response to what they heard; city council members voted unanimously in favor of two motions.
The first directs city staff to look into the possibility of charging developers impact fees specifically earmarked for public safety infrastructure.
The other mandates this sort of comprehensive public safety report be presented at least once a year, every year to monitor progress.
Some city council members recommended Tampa Mayor Castor immediately get city staff looking for locations and property where the city could build new fire stations.
“Let’s get some work done,” Greco said. “Stop all the consulting and address the problems that we have.”
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