TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa has officially opened its newest firehouse, located at 710 E. Fairbanks St. in the Sulphur Springs neighborhood — Station 25.
It’s unique because it doesn’t have any fire engines. The station is specifically designed to respond to emergency calls. Originally, the same building housed Tampa Fire Station 11, which had the nickname “House of Pain” because of how many calls it would get in a single day.
Later, it was used by the city’s police K-9 unit.
Now, it’s back to being used as a fire rescue station with a unique twist.
The city looked at its 90,000 service runs per year and found 90% of those were not fire responses but rather rescue and medical calls.
“So, with that, we came up with the idea of how we could repurpose an old fire station and be able to respond to the community the way the community needs us to be there,” Tampa Fire Rescue Chief Barbara Tripp said.
Tampa Mayor Jane Castor added, “Seconds matter. When you call 911, you expect those services to be at your doorstep as quickly as possible.”
The redesign and modifications were made possible with $3.4 million from the American Rescue Plan. They include physical and technical upgrades, a new kitchen, workout facilities and living spaces.
“I cannot think of a better way to spend American Rescue Plan dollars,” said U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Tampa, “than to keep our neighbors safe and to build safer neighborhoods.”
Lt. Mike Plate will be among those working out of Station 25: “It’s really a great look for the station and they did an awesome job compared to what it was.”
Lt. Myron Priester agreed.
“It’s a complete remodel from - because I used to be here in 2012, a complete renovation,” Priester said. “It’s amazing.”
RELATED: Tampa's new rescue station will help support one of the busiest fire stations in the country
Perhaps the biggest reason to rehab and rebuild Station 25 was to help provide relief for nearby Station 13, which is the busiest in Tampa and one of the busiest fire stations in the nation.
“This fire station is a real move for relief for those men and women and for the wonderful communities that they serve,” said Tampa Councilman Luis Viera, whose work helped make Station 25 a reality.
Tampa is still compiling data and looking for other locations where this sort of rescue-unit station makes sense. Not just to take the burden off busy fire stations but to provide faster response times in local communities.