New Fire Station 13 Opens, Serves Siesta Key Community

SIESTA KEY, FL — Sarasota County Emergency Services held the grand opening ceremony for the new Fire Station 13 on Siesta Key Friday.

The county demolished the old fire station at 1170 Beach Road in May 2020 before breaking ground for the new 10,500 facility.

The hurricane-hardened two-story building is modeled after Fire Station 12 on Bee Ridge Road and Fire Station 14 on Tamiami Trail near Vamo Road, the county said in a news release.

Some of the brick from the original Fire Station 13 was salvaged and used in a brick wall in the new building to “make a little bit of a historical reference to the old fire station,” Fire Chief Michael Regnier said in a video tour shared on Facebook.

The new station, which is located next to the beach, well house four or five firefighters at all times, as well as a fire truck, ambulance and ATV that can easily respond to incidents on the beach, Regnier added.

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The building’s façade was also designed with “a beach feel and light colors” to match the beach, he said.

In 2020, there were 1,600 incidents on Siesta Key handled by the Sarasota County Fire Department Alan Maio, Sarasota County Board of County Commissioners chair, said during the grand opening ceremony. Of these calls, 1,200 were EMS calls while 400 were fire-related, he said.

During his six years as a commissioner, the county has opened six fire stations, Maio said. There are several other new fire stations in the works and county leaders hope to add two more sites in south county. The county is also building a regional fire training facility on Knights Trail Road, he said.