HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — Stephanie Poynor knows it firsthand. South Tampa is exploding with growth.
All around here home new townhomes, condos, and apartments pop up almost monthly.
“We have endured an onslaught of apartments,” she said.
To Poynor, the rapid growth is worrying because she said new homes and people have been added to the area, but more ambulances and more fire trucks have not.
“We have changed the whole dynamic of our peninsula without addressing what our fire safety needs are,” she said.
Thursday afternoon, during a City Council meeting, Tampa Fire Chief Barbara Tripp told council members that she is making some changes in South Tampa.
“My plan is to implement an additional resource in the South of Gandy area,” she said.
But Nick Stocco, the President of Tampa Firefighters Local 754, said the problem is bigger than South Tampa.
He told council members that the department needs more resources citywide across the city to shorten response and provide Tampa residents and visitors the protection they deserve.
“We’re in a state of crisis,” he told the council. “There are fire stations that we don’t have ambulances at them, whether it’s Davis Island, South of Gandy, 22 up in New Tampa.”
“I’ve spelled out some of the needs,” he added.” When is enough enough?”
Chief Tripp did not deny it. She was clear that her department does have needs.
“I want everything for fire — for public station. I’m looking for more stations; I’m looking for land; I’m looking to do equipment and all of this,” she said.
To fund those needs, the city is studying if it could charge the developers of new projects an “impact fee.”
Additionally, during the Thursday meeting, Councilman Joseph Citro said he hopes to help Tampa Fire Rescue during the budget for the next fiscal year.
“Next time around, shoot us a number,” he instructed Chief Tripp. “A number you want. And then I suggest this council add 10% to it.”
Back in South Tampa, Poynor hopes the department will get what it needs to fund new resources to better protect all the new people who now call her neighborhood home.
“I’m somebody who’s on the budget committee for the city, and I don’t see us spending a significant amount,” she said.
According to testimony during the Thursday meeting, Tampa Fire Rescue plans to release a comprehensive report on Feb. 23 that should help the department identify its biggest needs so funding those needs can be prioritized.
