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Trinity's 1st Fire Station Slated To Open In 2009

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By CARL ORTH The Suncoast News

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 29, 2008

TRINITY - TRINITY - After numerous delays, the first fire station in the Trinity area is taking shape on Trinity Boulevard about a quarter mile east of State Road 54.

Crews could complete the project by spring 2009, Pasco County officials report.

"What we're doing is taking one station and putting two in" its place, said Dan Johnson, assistant county administrator for public services.

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 will be Station 37, being built in the Land O' Lakes area east of the Suncoast Parkway and the existing Station 15.

The new Trinity firehouse will be the first with a Pasco County Sheriff's Office substation, Assistant Chief Mike Ciccarello said.

The concept for a Trinity station first was discussed in 2005 as part of a master plan to build seven stations.

By early 2007, some grumblings about the slow progress on Pasco fire station construction began appearing on the blogs of professional firefighter unions.

The latest setbacks came when the county opted to delay new construction so that existing firehouses could be reinforced, Johnson said.

"Hurricane Katrina really reminded us of the vulnerability of government facilities" in coastal areas, Johnson said about the 2005 hurricane. "So we took a step back and hardened the fire station" plans before construction, he said.

In January, Metron Construction Co. bid about $1.8 million on the fire station construction work. The Clearwater-based company beat 10 competitors.

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 said.

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