By Kyle LoJacono
Four Pasco County fire engines are now staffed with only two firefighters, down from the old standard of three.
“In Pasco, we normally have three on all engines and were building toward four before the financial crisis hit,” said county fire chief Duncan Hitchcock, a 33-year veteran in his third year as chief.
One of the affected engines is at station No. 32, at 38223 Centennial Road off US 301 in east Pasco. It serves mainly Zephyrhills and Dade City. Two of the engines serve various parts of the county as needed. The fourth is in New Port Richey.
Property taxes for fire rescue service increased by 23 cents per $1,000 of taxable value, but that was not enough to prevent the reduced staffing.
Pasco commission chairwoman Pat Mulieri said there were few public concerns about the increase in taxes to pay for fire rescue services, which is likely because of how important it is to people like Land O’ Lakes resident Connie Whiteside.
“What’s more important than protecting your house from a fire?” Whiteside said. “I’d have been fine if they raised (taxes) more to bring in more firefighters.”
Kenneth Browning, who lives in Meadow Pointe, has similar feelings and also fears for the firefighters: “If I’m at work and something starts a fire I want to know the fire stations can put it out. And what if something happens to one or both of the firefighters? I figure the more people the more safe it is for them.”
Of the nearly 2,000 people surveyed in Pasco this year, 65 percent said fire rescue is their top priority in maintaining the current standard of service. Mulieri said that shows how important fire rescue is to county residents, which is why the commission decided to increase taxes for it.
The increase in taxes helped add 14 new personnel who recently joined the force and another 15 who are expected to finish training and orientation in January. The reason the new staff cannot prevent the two-person engines is there is no longer the budget for as much overtime as before. If only a few personnel call in sick, there would not be enough money to fill in.
“The National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA) recommendations are to have four on each engine and our director of fire rescue Anthony Lopinto had been working for years to get us to those standards,” Hitchcock said.
The NFPA’s recommendations are not rules, but more like industry best practice guidelines. Hillsborough County also cannot afford to staff all of its 45 engines with four personnel, according to Hillsborough Fire Rescue spokesman Raymond Yeakley.
“All of our engines always have three and some have four,” Yeakly said. “We’d like to have as many people working the fires as we can to get them out fast and keep the firefighters safe. We’d like to follow the NFPA standards.”
Yeakley said when an active fire is reported, more than one engine always reports to the scene in Hillsborough. He said usually about 15 people are at such an emergency.
Hillsborough has 42 stations, three of which are based in Lutz including No. 34 at 6415 Van Dyke Road, No. 40 at 16304 N. Nebraska Ave and No. 24, also known as the volunteer fire station, at 129 W. Lutz-Lake Fern Road. There are also stations near Lutz in Northdale and by University Community Hospital.
Hitchcock said there may be a possibility of increasing the four engines back to three personnel in Pasco after the 15 new staff start next year. He added it is too early to tell if that would free up enough overtime money.
“We work hard to maintain our skill level and knowledge of what to do in a rescue situation,” Hitchcock said. “We all have to do 14 hours of in-house training each month to stay at that high level. The people of Pasco can rest assured knowing we are doing everything to keep them safe.”
