Tuesday, October 6, 2009

After years of financial planning, Monroe County Fire Rescue is set to unveil a modern $3.2 million fire station Saturday, dedicating the new facility in the memory of the county's first paid fire chief, who died last year.

The new Big Pine Key Fire Station 13 on Key Deer Boulevard replaces a nearly 30-year-old facility known as the Big Pine volunteer station, which lacks housing for full-time firefighters and was ready to be condemned, said county Fire Chief Jim Callahan.

Built when Big Pine Key had only volunteer firefighters, the old station lacks sufficient room to store vehicles assigned to the island. The new station includes housing for six firefighters, showers, a kitchen, a day room and enough room for three fire-rescue vehicles and equipment. The building also is rated to withstand 150 mph winds.

Six full-time firefighters are assigned to the Big Pine station, which serves Summerland, Ramrod and the Torch Keys, as well as Big Pine Key, Callahan said.

"The old station was just a hodgepodge of converted rooms and was full of mildew," Callahan said. "Wilma didn't help it either. You really had to see it to believe it."

The new station has been in the works for three years, said Monroe County Mayor George Neugent. Some residents who use a nearby senior center were displaced during construction, and budget constraints were among the hurdles, Neugent said.

The Big Pine Key station is the latest on a list of aging fire stations the county is replacing. Big Coppitt Key and Key Largo already have new stations, and facilities on Conch Key and Stock Island probably will be next, Callahan said.

"We've been looking at all our infrastructure in the Keys, but obviously progress has been limited by the lack of dollars," Neugent said.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Big Pine Key station at 390 Key Deer Blvd. will be at 10 a.m. Saturday.

The station will be dedicated to the memory of former Monroe County Fire Chief Clark Martin Jr., who died from cancer in December 2008.

"Some of his ashes will be placed in the mortar of the new station, which was one of his last wishes," Callahan said. "We've invited his family to be there and we'll be hanging a plague there in his honor. We're looking forward to moving on and we want to do it right."

alinhardt@keysnews.com