Money Worries Causes Sun 'N Lake, Fla. City to Disband Fire Dept.

SEBRING -- Sun 'N Lake supervisors voted unanimously to disband the fire department as it is currently organized and negotiate with the West Sebring Volunteer Fire Department to take over emergency services for the district.

During the meeting Friday morning, Administrator Michael Wright said money was a primary worry, as was concern that the current department were all part time. This means he said a two-man team is on duty for an eight-hour day shift, but for the remaining 16 hours, the community already relied on West Sebring.

Wright said the dilemma was in choosing the best long-term solution for Sun 'N Lake's future emergency issues.

On the one hand, the district did not have the experienced manpower to create a purely volunteer fire department, Wright said. The current force of 14 paid firefighters mostly work full time for other fire departments and receive advanced training from them. This saves the district considerable money. Training volunteers and maintaining standards would be expensive.

Wright said during the meeting Avon Park City Manager Julian Deleon told him it costs about $1 million annually to run a full-time fire department, and that would be without any pension costs.

There is another option, Wright told the supervisors.

Talks with Florida Hospital Heartland Division led the hospital to offer land (to which the hospital would retain title) so that a larger emergency complex could be built on Sun 'N Lake Boulevard east of the first traffic circle. Eventually, the center would contain county Emergency Medical Services, some kind of firefighter presence and a Highlands County Sheriff's Office sub-station.

The idea, Wright said, and the supervisors agreed, was to build the new complex with an eye to accommodating the future, growing into it over time.

County commission approval is needed for that kind of change.

Firefighters currently working at Sun 'N Lake expressed shock and dismay at the decision, which they said was a surprise. "There was no round table discussion," Lt. Craig Maranas said. "We have a lot of ideas of how to save money."

He added that the job was only part time. but losing the job would be a hardship for the firefighters who need it to make ends meet.

However, Maranas emphasized, their financial loss was not what worried him or his fellow firefighters about disbanding the department.

With two nursing homes, an elementary school, a middle school, a hospital and many doctor's offices in the area, as well as large areas of brush, and isolated houses, Maranas said, response time is his biggest concern.

"With a volunteer force," Maranas said, "the firefighters have to get to the station to get the truck before they can leave for the scene. That takes about five minutes, then there's the time it takes to get to the emergency. West Sebring's station is well to the south on Hammock Road," he said.

Maranas is just as concerned about losing the department's vast local store of knowledge.

"It's not like we just started yesterday," Maranas said. "We don't just know where the golf courses are; we know the quickest way to every hole on the course."

This, said Maranas, is a part of the hidden equation. When firefighters are called out, he said, but their services are refused upon arrival, the call does not count in the response statistics. This makes it seem as if a station is not as busy as it is, he said.

Maranas added, that doing away with the Sun 'N Lake department meant more work for the county, which would have to take over pre-fire inspections and other paperwork being done now.

Should an arrangement be worked out with West Sebring, Sun 'N Lake residents and property owners will be charged the county's $25 annual fire assessment towards the expense. The district currently charges a $32 annual fire assessment.

There was discussion among the supervisors as to whether or not to do away with the district's assessment, when the county's assessment takes effect. Some supervisors want to end the district's assessment, others feel future expenses for public safety -- whether contributing toward building the new complex, or buying new equipment -- means now is the proper time to save and prepare.

The final closure of the Sun 'N Lake Fire Department will be decided after approval by county commission and West Sebring VFD.