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Fire House Taking Shape In Trinity
Eric Horchy/SUNCOAST NEWS
A Pasco County Fire Rescue station is being constructed on Trinity Boulevard, in the Trinity area.
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Published: June 24, 2008
Updated:
TRINITY - Where's the fire?
After numerous delays, the first fire station in the Trinity area is taking shape on Trinity Boulevard about a quarter mile east of S.R. 54.
Crews could complete the project by spring 2009, county officials report.
"What we're doing is taking one station and putting two in" its place, Dan Johnson, assistant county administrator for public services, explained.
In effect, the old Station 15, in the Odessa area, is splitting. One part will become a new Station 15, in Trinity, and the other Station 37, being built in the Lutz area east of the Suncoast Parkway and the existing Station 15.
Plus the firehouse will be the first with a Sheriff's Office substation, Assistant Chief Mike Ciccarello noted.
The rough concept for a Trinity station actually first was mentioned in 2005 as part of a master plan to build seven stations.
By early 2007 some grumblings about the slow progress on Pasco firehouse construction began appearing on the online web logs, or blogs, of professional firefighter unions.
The latest delays came when the county decided to delay new construction and instead reinforce existing firehouses, Johnson explained.
"Katrina really reminded us of the vulnerability of government facilities" in coastal areas, Johnson commented about the 2005 hurricane which devastated the New Orleans area.
"So we took a step back and hardened the fire station" plans before construction, Johnson said.
In January, Metron Construction Co. put in the low bid, about $1.8 million, on the fire station construction work. The Clearwater-based company beat 10 competitors to earn the right to build the project.
The Trinity station will have two, drive-through bays with enough room to park up to four vehicles, Ciccarello said.
The engine company with a crew of three will transfer from existing Station 15 to the Trinity location, along with an ambulance crew of two, the assistant chief added.
An all-wheel-drive vehicle to battle brush fires and a tanker unit will be based at the Trinity firehouse as well.
The fire station's dormitory will be able to sleep up to seven people, Ciccarello. The two extra bunks will come in handy for training recruits, for instance.
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