![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/download-1-2.jpg?resize=196%2C257&ssl=1\")
Lakeland Fire Chief Doug Riley told the commission that LFD\u2019s seven fire stations handled 29,053 calls in 2021, a 10% increase from the previous year with response times increasing in the rapidly growing northeast and southwest reaches of the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe area north of I-4 is served by Lakeland Fire Department Station 3, which is south of the interstate at Florida Avenue and Bella Vista Street. Response times are bad and getting worse\u201d, Riley said, \u201cwith response times of 15 minutes or more in some areas north of I-4.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
LFD Station 3 is the busiest of the city\u2019s seven firehouses, handling 7,868 calls last year, a 26.6% increase, he said, with 3,307 of the calls coming from north of I-4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Riley presented two options \u2014 relocating station 3 to a \u201cmore central location (that) decreases response time to north Lakeland\u201d or spending at least $1.5 million for a 1.5- to a 2-acre parcel for the eighth station on U.S. 98N.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The station 8 proposal also seeks $2.2 million for a two-bay station, $160,000 in furnishings, $880,000 for a new fire engine and equipment, and $1.2 million in salaries for 12 additional firefighters\/EMTs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The two-year funding request earmarks $5.9 million for next year and $1.3 million for 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite Southwest Lakeland\u2019s rapid growth, LFD is recommending the city continue its mutual aid agreement with Polk County Fire Rescue to help cover the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe don\u2019t see or anticipate enough growth\u201d now for an LFD station in Southwest Lakeland, he said, suggesting commissioners negotiate \u201ca more long-term contract\u201d with the county because \u201cjust like us, they\u2019re getting busier all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe day may come,\u201d Riley said when an LFD station is needed in Southwest Lakeland \u201cthe way that area is growing\u201d but the city is \u201cvery comfortable with our partnership with Polk County Fire Rescue,\u201d Riley said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Commissioner Bill Read said the city can \u201csave a lot of money\u201d by locating new fire stations on city-owned lands, such as parks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Commissioners Mike Musick and Phillip Walker said they support adding the eighth station rather than relocating station 3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe need to add another station to the north,\u201d Musick said. \u201cWe really got to get into this conversation. It\u2019s late. And it\u2019s not moving a station \u2014 it is adding a station. We\u2019ve got to do some talking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Walker said, \u201cA station is needed in north Lakeland but to just forego one, to replace one, I don\u2019t think it is the route we take,\u201d suggesting the city present voters with \u201can initiative\u201d that clearly states, \u201cThis is what we need to have done and we need you to buy into it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Lakeland Fire Department needs $7.2 million to build a new fire station on U.S. Highway 98 north of I-4. Lakeland Fire Chief Doug Riley told the commission that LFD\u2019s… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20414,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"0","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","default_image_id":71799,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[12,14],"tags":[2435],"class_list":["post-20413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","category-news","tag-lakeland-needs-new-fire-station-at-7-2-million-dollars-in-north-lakeland"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20413"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20413\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/fire-station-3-fb-1024x538-1.jpg?resize=1024%2C538&ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/c4b06b7c-3912-44ba-adc5-de7c39fcf872-LFD_Response.jpg?resize=646%2C487&ssl=1\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n