I am president of the Kismet Court Board of Directors and I have some things to say about Sun City Fire and Medical Department Fire Station 132, 11401 N. 99th Ave.
As stated on the department’s website, “Sun City Fire Department Station 132 provides fire protection and emergency response services to the Sun City community. The Fire Department’s mission is to prevent the loss of life and property. In addition to responding to fires, the Sun City Fire Department Station 132 also responds to medical emergencies, motor vehicle accidents, rescue calls, and incidents involving hazardous materials.”
The Sun City Fire Chief was quoted in the Independent newspaper as saying, “Sun City’s Engine 133 handled the most calls in 2018 with 4,377 and Engine 132 topped the charts in 2017 with 4,156. Those call volumes topped, in 2018, and nearly surpassed Phoenix Fire Department’s Engine 18, which had 4,262 in 2018 and 4,612 in 2017.”
When we moved to Sun City three years ago, we looked for a home in Station 132’s area. At the time, there was one engine and one ambulance at Station 132. We recently discovered that Station 132 currently has two ambulances, each manned with one EMT and one paramedic. No one at Station 132 is a firefighter/paramedic. There is not a fire engine and the only certified firefighters are a battalion chief vehicle that is not equipped with any capabilities a fire engine has. How do they contribute to the fire safety of our community?
Station 131, 17017 N. 99th Ave., now has two Engines, E131 and E132. Station 133, 13232 N. 111th Ave., has two fire apparatus as well. They have E133 and the LT131, LT is the ladder company.
Some time in the past two years, and unbeknownst to us, Station 132 moved its E132 over to Station 131 giving Station 131 two engines and leaving Station 132 with zero engines. There are no fire trucks to run calls in our very large and very busy area. We also discovered that Peoria Station 194, 9800 W. Olive Ave., Peoria picks up about 50-100 calls per month that should be handled by Sun City’s Station 132 because Station 132 does not have an engine to run calls.
We are extremely concerned that our homes are in jeopardy from a catastrophic fire in which the slow response time could leave our homes in ruble or loss of life. Many of our homes are duplexes and 4-plexes, which could be a greater fire hazard than a single family home.
We are hoping you can shine a light on this travesty inside Sun City before there is another tragic fire death. We have talked with many of our neighbors and acquaintances and not one of them had any idea that our Station 132 was not equipped with a fire truck and the necessary personnel to protect our community in the event there was a fire.
Thank you in advance for your help.
Editor’s Note: We’d like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments, pro or con, on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.
