Firefighters, dignitaries, Villagers and residents of the nearby Serenades memory-care facility attended a ribbon-cutting event Wednesday to celebrate the renovation of Villages Public Safety Fire Station 40.
The station, located at 2455 Parr Drive near The Villages High School and the Village of Belvedere, was renovated to make room for a 95-foot aerial platform truck that’s needed because of several nearby multi-story buildings. Having the aerial truck at the station within a two-and-a-half-mile radius of those facilities could help improve the fire department’s Insurance Service Office (ISO) rating from 2 to 1, which possibly could result in savings on homeowners insurance for Villagers in the area as well.
District Public Safety Fire Chief Edmund Cain said the two-year, $1.9-million renovation added about 4,600 square feet and the crews stationed there couldn’t be happier.
“They are ecstatic,” he said. “I haven’t heard one negative out of anybody.”
Cain added that the tower truck, which was built by E-One in Ocala, carries 500 gallons of water, can function as an engine and is a license paramedic unit in the state of Florida.
“But the biggest thing is that it has a 95-foot reach on that bucket,” he said, adding that a nozzle for dispersing large amounts of water also is mounted on the bucket at the top of the tower.
District Manager Richard Baier said he was extremely pleased with the way the renovated fire station turned out – and the fact that it came in under budget.
“That was phenomenal,” he said.
Baier added that he’s thrilled to have the tower truck in its new home near the multi-story structures in the area where “stellar” customer service will be provided by Villages firefighters and paramedics.
“My biggest goal in providing District services is making sure that we never, never overlook the critical services that we provide through The Villages Public Safety Department,” he said.
Both Cain and Baier said they’re also happy to see the fire department maintaining an average response time of about 4 minutes and 27 seconds. Both agreed that such a fast response time – many departments across the country average between seven and eight minutes – speaks volumes of the commitment to Villages residents.
“It’s delivering a high-grade service to the public – a professional service in a very short period of time,” Cain said.
Baier agreed.
“It says that the health, welfare and safety of our residents is of paramount importance,” he said, “and also that we put that first as one of our priorities.”
