VIDEO: Escambia County and the Department of the United States Navy have commemorated a land exchange agreement to reestablish a fire station that closed seven years ago. Paradise Beach Fire Station #20 has been closed since 2018, due to the expiration of a lease agreement. Escambia County is exchanging 31.15 acres at OโConner-Colling Community for 5.26 acres of property owned by the Navy where the fire station will be built.
โNot only is there five acres of real property that we get to exchange with the county for this fire house, which is absolutely instrumental to the community, and not just for the citizens of Escambia County, but for the United States Navy as well,โ Naval Captain Chandra Newman said. District 1 County Commissioner Steve Stroberger said Paradise Beach residents have been paying more to live here without a fire station.
โItโs cost them a lot of money in insurance rates, and itโs probably- I thought it was about 3,000 homes affected by that, it might be more than that,โ said Stroberger. The Insurance Services Office rates fire departments on their ability to serve the community effectively. โI believe they were an ISO 4 when the volunteer firehouse was there, and when that left, when the lease was over, it became an ISO 10, the worst rating,โ Stroberger added. โSo thatโs why the rates went up so high.โ
One Paradise Beach resident is a former firefighter himself. Gil Birgel spoke at Thursdayโs signing and said the community is fed up with not having a fire station nearby. โSeven years weโve been fighting this, and I couldnโt be happier,โ Birgel said. โBasically, if you donโt have a fire station within five miles of your house, youโre going to be a 10, thatโs it, because the response time is so much longer.โ
