Hillsborough County Fire Rescue (HCFR) hosted a public meeting to discuss and receive feedback for a planned replacement and expansion of Fire Station 11 in Brandon on March 12, which was attended by members of the community and the command staff of HCFR department, with Hillsborough County Fire Chief Jason Dougherty presiding.
The current Fire Station 11, located at 117 Ridgewood Ave. in Brandon, was constructed in 1978. It is a 2-story building lacking modern technology improvements and safety features. The existing station is on a small parcel that is further constrained by a 180-foot public safety communications tower on the property.
Hillsborough County is looking to acquire two parcels adjacent to Fire Station 11. The purchase of two expansion parcels would provide additional space for the construction of a new, modernized Fire Station 11.
Additionally, there is a newer, privately-owned 190-foot lattice tower directly across the street from the existing station. To free up space on the fire station site, Hillsborough County has secured a contract to purchase the tower and the parcel across the street. Once approved, the existing tower at the current fire station can be removed, making space for the necessary improvements.
Dougherty opened the meeting by reminding the crowd that “Fire Station 11 is 50 years old, so it’s definitely time for an upgrade for the citizens of the community who will see the benefit in public safety, as well as the firefighters and what they do at the station living [there] 365 days a year.”
Dougherty and his command staff oversee a team of 1,200 that work under Fire & Rescue in the 46 stations covering the 909 square miles of Hillsborough County, with Stations 47, 48 and 49 coming soon.
The HCFR unit responds to 140,000 calls a year, with “the Brandon station among the top 10 stations across the county. Its ladder unit is the 12th-busiest unit out of 73 apparatuses in Hillsborough County, with rescue car (ambulance) seventh-busiest unit in the county. It’s a really busy station.”
According to Chris Rideout, project manager at HCFR, “Fire Station 11 is the only 2-story out of all 46 existing stations, which can be problematic in response times.”
He also cited age and cost to maintain the outdated facility while keeping it healthy for the firefighters as reasons why the new station is warranted.
“When we rebuild the station, like any other development in Hillsborough County,” Rideout said, “it brings on adherence to modern development standards this station presently doesn’t have,” including a drainage pond and landscape buffering.
Plans for the new Fire Station 11 will be a major upgrade with additional safety, technology and efficient design features. It will include modern dispatch alerting technology, individualized sleeping quarter designs and decontamination suites to remove toxic particulate matter before firefighters enter the living area of the station.
Due to lack of large tracts of land within the service area (central Brandon) that could provide “rapid access and rapid response to calls,” no other suitable locations were found to relocate the station, leading to the plan to acquire land near the existing location.
Rideout added, “If everything goes as planned, expect the station to be ready second quarter ’27,” with the understanding that the land has not yet been acquired and the development process will take at least 18 months once approved.
The board of county commissioners meeting to move forward with these plans is scheduled for Wednesday, April 16, with your input greatly appreciated. Please visit www.publicinput.com/brandonstation11 to give any feedback on plans to build a new, modernized HCFR station.
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