The firehouse between Dade City and Zephyrhills will serve unincorporated areas of east Pasco.
By SAUNDRA AMRHEIN
Published August 11, 2003
The Pasco County Fire Department moved into its new digs on Centennial Road on Friday, ready to serve eastern parts of the county.
The $800,000 station opened east of U.S. 301 between Dade City and Zephyrhills with a firetruck and three firefighters, Fire Rescue Chief Anthony Lopinto said. By the end of the year, the station also will hold an ambulance, a 3,000-gallon tanker truck, a brush truck and a possible seven employees total, Lopinto said.
The station will serve unincorporated Pasco County and, after Oct. 1, take over as primary responders to fires just outside the city limits of Zephyrhills and Dade City, he said.
The county has been negotiating with the cities to take over those zones. In Dade City, those discussions are on hold.
Because of budget problems, Dade City leaders are considering turning over all fire and police responsibilities to the county.
If that happens, Lopinto said he would consider leasing the city's fire station and putting a county truck inside.
The opening of the Centennial station is part of the county's expansion plan to build a network of fire stations and provide better response times and coverage for a booming population and isolated rural areas.
The plan calls for seven new stations and some renovations and other changes to existing stations, he said.
The department's current average response time is seven minutes for engines that respond from their stations, he said.
But some rural residents receive less than that. The average response time for trucks leaving the San Antonio station, which covers Blanton, was 11 minutes in June, he added. A new Blanton station should be under construction by 2005.
"I'm trying to position the stations so that everybody is going to end up with a reasonable response time, should it be a firetruck or an ambulance," he said.
