PALM BAY, Fla. – A new fire station is coming to the City of Palm Bay, which has faced criticism over emergency response times.
During a ceremony on Friday, city leaders will break ground on Fire Station 7 at 2144 Palm Bay Road.
The new location will serve as a replacement for the former Fire Station 1, which was demolished in January 2022 with funding from a community development grant.
“It’s extremely needed and with the additional growth that’s going on in that area of the city, it’s going to be coming in at a perfect time,” Palm Bay Fire Chief Richard Stover said.
Palm Bay currently has six fire stations, but the city said population and size of response area indicate that 12 fire stations are needed.
During a council meeting last month, it was revealed that the lack of fire stations has hurt emergency response times and firefighters have taken as long as 20 minutes to answer a call in some cases.
Council members agreed the city needed to find a way to pay for increasing fire services but voted against putting a proposal to raise property taxes on the November ballot.
The city has considered taking on additional debt to build at least two more fire stations.
Construction of Fire Station 7 is expected to be completed by fall 2025.
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