A New Fire House, Finally

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An Epic Struggle Comes To A Happy Conclusion

The City of Coral Gables prides itself on public safety, and that includes the ability of firefighters to reach someone suffering a medical emergency in as little time as possible. With that in mind, the city has been searching for another firehouse location at least since 2017 – and some would say for a century, when city founder George Merrick called for a fourth station. Its three existing stations, located at 2801 Salzedo St., 525 S. Dixie Hwy., and 11911 Old Cutler Rd., left a coverage gap just south of U.S. 1.

“Between Fire Station 2 on Riviera and Fire Station 3 on Old Cutler, there was a 5-mile distance between the two,” says Fire Chief Marcos De la Rosa. That changed at the end of March, when Fire Station 4 was officially opened at 1325 Sunset Drive. “Now we can reach any part of the city within a 2-mile radius [of a station].”

The new state-of-the-art facility, located next to the Riviera Presbyterian Church which sold the land to the city in 2020, opened with considerable fanfare and a large crowd that included three former mayors and two former city commissioners, as well as the current commission and mayor. “I appreciate the mayors and commissioners from the past, because they all championed it,” says De La Rosa. “The mayor (Vince Lago) championed it from the moment he became a commissioner (2017).”

The nine years since then were filled with their fair share of controversy and challenges, beginning with the original selection for a site in 2018, a residential lot on Cartegena Circle. The property was assessed at $1.5 million, but the owner wanted $4 million. “I was not going to let him hold the city hostage,” says Lago, who voted against the purchase. The size of the lot also limited the size of fire trucks that could be stationed there.

Lago took considerable heat from the local firefighter’s union who, as one observer put it, “felt that they should get that location simply because they wanted it.” In the end, the church property found by Lago cost $2 million, saving the city $2 million. “The city purchased it in 2020, and then the reality of COVID hit, with its supply chain issues, the uncertainty of construction materials and the cost,” says De La Rosa. In the end the project would take another $9.5 million to build.

In the interim another 15 firefighters were hired to man a new emergency vehicle and a fire truck relocated to the facility. And the location, which makes it quicker to reach Gables Estates, Hammock Lakes, and the University of Miami, has won the approval even of Cocoplum residents who were adjacent to the Cartegena site. “The difference [between Sunset and Cartegena Circle] is less than a minute,” says Cocoplum resident Robert Garner. “I think the ultimate decision was definitely the right one.”